Reminiscing
by Waterlilies
Summary: [Complete]. Chapter 12: "Shattered Dreams." She went over to the window and looked out onto the frosted fields wondering where Heero would supposedly be. Her lips quivered, as her breath frosted the panes, "Why did you have to leave?" (slight 1xR)
1. A New Start

"Reminiscing"  
  
Chapter 1: A New Start  
  
By: Water Lily2  
  
Hi everyone!! Here's the revised edition of "Reminiscing" that was first posted last year in August. I'll just say that there are a couple of surprises in store for future chapters, but I can't say what, it's my little secret. But basically, the story takes place on earth and it occurs a few years after Endless Waltz. Anyhow, let me know what you think, I really appreciate it and thanks. Disclaimers apply here: I don't own Gundam Wing or any of its characters.

* * *

Relena leaned against a window frame in an upper room of her house, staring out into the countryside with fields of greenery here and there, noticing that it would be fall. The trees were showing the first hint of autumn with their yellow green appearance. She sat in her room all day, contemplating on her past as a leader in peace for the earth and the colonies. During her diplomatic duties, the colonies and the Earth both recognized each other as an entity that needed to agree with one another. From that point on, her Terra Reforming Project finally lifted off the ground with the help from Zechs, Noin, and Lady Une. It was still a rough road, but someone still had the task of bringing peace within the E.S.U.N. She didn't need the Gundam pilots to fulfill her goals or any protection from the Preventers, but all in all there was still a strong bond between the groups and with her. Even though, one was always nearby.   
  
Relena continued to stare out her window, "I guess this is how it all ends. The colonies and the people on earth have realized what the past wars have done to them and to each other. It's finally happening."  
  
A soft knock was heard on her door. "Ms. Relena, it's time for your news conference."  
  
"Thank you, Pagan. I'll be right there. Just let me have a few more moments alone."  
  
"All right then."  
  
Relena then began to compose herself for her last and final goal as being Vice Foreign Minister that would shock everyone. After making some final last minute adjustments to her light green skirt and suit, and putting on some light lipstick, she headed out to the makeshift conference that was held in the foyer.  
  
"You gotta pull yourself together, Relena. This is your last final act as being Vice Foreign Minister." She continued to repeat that thought throughout her mind as she was walking down an endless flight of stairs. But all she could feel was a knot forming in her stomach, as she knew the end of her term was drawing near. After walking down another set of stairs, she finally made it down to the foyer, where all the reporters and news crews were waiting for her to speak.  
  
Right then, flashes of cameras and reporters started to come at her with a barrage of questions on why she was holding this special conference.  
  
A reporter in the back of the group abruptly asked, "Ms. Peacecraft, why are you holding this unannounced conference this afternoon?"  
  
Another reporter with a tape recorder in his hand asked, "Is the Terra Reforming Project failing?" With that question, every reporter began to wonder if it was true since in the past, while Relena was being the negotiator between the Earth Sphere and the colonies, small political organizations have tried to assassinate her, while she was still in office. One group in particular was close in their goal of killing her in office, but luckily Heero was there to save her. None of the reporters ever tried to say that name ever in public again.   
  
Relena quietly walked up to the podium and once she took her place, the group of reporters silenced immediately. After regaining her composure and her thoughts, she began to speak aloud to the crowd, "I have gathered you all here today because I'm resigning from my post as Vice Foreign Minister of the Earth Sphere and the colonies."  
  
With that said, a wave shock spread throughout the room that included the various reporters and news crew. In addition, a shock can be seen in Zechs and Noin who were standing in the doorway just to hear what Relena would say, as for Pagan he was in the kitchen minding his own business as usual and when he heard the statement, he accidentally dropped a small stack of dishes in his hands. The sound of falling dishes snapped everyone out of their shock.  
  
After the wave of shock went through the entire group, Zechs and Noin had questioning looks on their faces, "What do you think she's up to, Zechs? I'm worried that the Earth Sphere and the colonies might fall to pieces once they hear about this."  
  
"I think it's too late now. She's needs to find a new leader, soon, if she wants to retain peace between the colonies and the Earth."   
  
Another reporter asked a question, "If you're resigning now, whom will you name as your successor?"  
  
"I have already that covered once I considered about my resignation. I decided to choose..." She was looking within the crowd to see if the person in question was there and after scanning endless rows of faces, she finally saw him, her brother, who was still standing at the doorway.  
  
"I decided to chose Milliardo Peacecraft. With this, I say my goodbye and thank you." Relena then left the podium and headed straight towards the kitchen, where Pagan was there waiting for her. With that said, another wave of shock went through her brother. In less than a minute, a barrage of camera flashes headed straight towards him.  
  
"Mr. Peacecraft, how do you feel as being the new Vice Foreign Minister?"  
  
"I'm right now in shock that's all, but I'm glad to continue my sister's work and to keep the Peacecraft name living on. Excuse me, now." More camera flashes and questions were coming from the reporters, but soon, the entire foyer emptied with the help of Noin ushering them out for Zechs to talk with his sister.  
  
Meanwhile back in the kitchen, Relena was silently waiting for Zechs to come into the room. While at the same time, Pagan was making some tea for her, "It's very brave of you to resign now, Ms. Relena."  
  
"You think so, Pagan. I feel like I've just dropped a bombshell on everyone."  
  
"And I believe that you have made the right decision." He took her hands and patted them.  
  
"You sure?" She looked at the old man, who has helped her since she was a child, trying to find a reassuring look in his eyes.  
  
"I believe so. Ever since you were a child, your father said to always look out for you, in which I did. I was able to see you grow up and look at you now. You are a beautiful young lady and it's about time that you set your foot out into the world and see what you have done for everybody." Right then, Zechs entered into the room.  
  
"What were you thinking of naming me as Vice Foreign Minister? You know how I can't lead, I have shed too much bloodshed in my past."  
  
Relena was staring at him with her pleading blue eyes, "I know that, but that's all in the past now."  
  
"They need you, not me"  
  
"I know that you might still be in shock, but you don't know how much you and Noin have done for me in securing the Terra Reforming Project. I think it's about time for me to move on and settle in a quiet life for now."  
  
"But, Relena...this job means a lot to you and I don't want to be the one taking the glory away from you."  
  
"You're not. I'm glad that I chose you to complete the job for me. If I decided to choose someone else, the whole project could have failed and the wars between the colonies and the Earth could have erupted again."  
  
"But you could have chosen Quatre, he'd be perfect."  
  
"I was considering about him and I talked to him about the idea at first. But after awhile, he decided to drop the idea. Therefore, you're the last one on my list. Please Milliardo, will you do this for me?"  
  
"Well...all right then. Who can say no to that face of yours?"  
  
"Thank you." She then hugged her brother.  
  
"All right, you can let go now."  
  
"Um...Zechs, Pagan and I were talking just a few minutes ago and I was thinking of taking off for a couple of months. I was thinking of traveling around Europe for awhile such as in France and England if it's possible."  
  
His face then dropped. "I don't think its possible unless you have someone with you along the way. I'm not letting my little sister travel alone."  
  
"I need some time to get away from here and you can't trust the idea of me being all alone."  
  
"Exactly...I'll have Noin come along with you."  
  
"What about me?" She appeared in the kitchen, after ushering all the reporters away from the premises.  
  
"Relena was just thinking of taking an European vacation trip for a couple of months and I was just thinking of sending you along with her, since she might need some protection just in case anything happened, while I was being Vice Foreign Minister."  
  
"No, thanks. I'll be fine. Besides you and Noin have plans now, since you will be taking up the duties that I used to have."  
  
"No buts, Relena," replied Noin, who showed concern for the former Vice Foreign Minister. "With Zechs being the new Vice Foreign Minister, the risk of you being kidnapped is there. They might hold you hostage and force Zechs to deal with them. This could eventually jeopardize the E.S.U.N."

* * *

As the three were continuing to debate along with Pagan in the kitchen, unknown to the four of them, a reporter somehow managed to remain in a closet after the crowd had left.  
  
"All right, it's time to get out of this stuffy closet."   
  
The reporter still had an id badge hanging around his neck, while at the same time, he was holding a small handheld camera taking pictures around Relena's house. After taking small snapshots of the living room and the family room, he took out a small notepad from his pocket and scribbled something abruptly down. He made sure to stay away from the kitchen, since he knew that the four were still there chatting away. After sneaking past the door, he found the staircase that lead to the second floor and walked his way up, even though the floorboards creaked underneath his wait.   
  
"They're going to hear me, if I'm not too careful."  
  
After successfully traversing the stairs, the so-called reporter began to snoop around Relena's house, taking various snapshots of rooms with his small hand held camera and taking careful notes down in small notepad. Once he found the master bedroom, he drew out a large paper from his shirt and pocket and began to make a careful mapping of Relena's house. "This should be useful in the future."   
  
A voice from the corner sneaked up behind him, "Who are you?"  
  
"What?" The reporter turned around and saw that nobody was behind him at all. "I must be going crazy. I thought I just heard someone." Right then, Heero appeared right out of nowhere in front of the reporter.  
  
"What are you doing here?"  
  
The reporter was speechless, "I was just taking a small tour around the house, that's all."   
  
Heero looked on with suspicion and pulled out his gun. "I'll give you one more chance. What are you doing here? The last time I checked, all of the reporters left an hour ago."   
  
"I got to run now."  
  
"Hold it." A shot was then heard.

* * *

In the kitchen, the foursome heard the shot. "I wonder what's going on up there. Wait right here."  
  
"I'll go with you Zechs."  
  
"Stay right here, Noin, just in case anything goes wrong down here." Noin then ran to him and kissed him.  
  
"Be safe, my love."  
  
By the time, Zechs went to the kitchen door, Heero was on the other side with the phony reporter, whose shirt was stained with red in the upper right arm.  
  
"I found him in Relena's bedroom. He had these." He revealed the hand held camera and the map of the house.   
  
Relena then ran over to the kitchen door and saw the intruder. "What happened? How was he able to stay after the majority of the reporters had left?"  
  
"I supposed he was hiding somewhere. You're safe for now. You need to have more locks in this house." Heero then left and minded his own business again.  
  
The intruder was now yelling, "You won't see the last of us, once everything is in place."  
  
"Take him away, right now," ordered Zechs. Noin acknowledged and took him to the Preventer Headquarters, leaving Zechs to debate among his little sister.  
  
"I better get on with the vacation plans before anything else happens." She was about to walk out the kitchen door.  
  
"Hold on a minute, right now." His voice was hinting a sign of agitation. "You can finalize your plans after we make a decision of appointing someone to guard you. Otherwise, I'll have Heero follow you ...wait on the second thought, I'll have Noin follow you, instead. If you refuse, you won't go then. End of discussion."  
  
"Zechs," her hands were beginning to clench at her sides, "I can take care of myself...I'm not a teenager anymore and besides you can't control my life."  
  
"Do I have to repeat myself, Relena?" His eyes were glaring at her. "Why are you being so difficult today? I'm just trying to bring some sense into you."  
  
Heero then walked into the room, unaware that he was going to be in the middle of a debate.   
  
Zechs then spoke up, "Heero, could you please bring some sense back into Relena's mind about her safety?"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"She's planning to go on a trip to Europe and she refuses to have anyone follow her around."  
  
Heero's eyes widened in shock and looked to Relena, "You need someone there by your side, it's not safe for you travel alone. We don't need more attempted assassinations on anyone right now. Even though you've resigned, Zechs and the E.S.U.N. can be affected indirectly."  
  
"Great...now Heero's turning against me. What will you do, Zechs, have Pagan go against me too?" She looked towards Pagan, who was still standing by the kitchen sink.  
  
"I'm actually neutral in this conversation." He then resumed in some household chores leaving the three in the kitchen.  
  
The debate started over again, "Listen Relena...you need someone to follow you." Zechs was starting to get more agitated than ever.   
  
Relena then walked out of the kitchen abruptly, leaving Zechs and Heero in the middle of the room. She was determined to go whether they liked it or not.TBC 


	2. Strangers

"Reminiscing"  
  
Chapter 2: Strangers  
  
Disclaimers: I don't own Gundam Wing or any of its characters.

* * *

It was two weeks since the incident with the reporter, but the memory of it was still fresh in her mind. She thought to herself, "I wonder what he meant about, 'You haven't seen the last of us, once everything is in place.' Get a grip, girl, you're on vacation now. Just relax." She looked out her window and saw the Atlantic Ocean below her on a cloudless day. Zechs and the others were hundreds of miles away from her now. After her endless debate with them, she finally decided to leave in the cover of darkness, so that none of them could stop her from leaving, not even Heero. As for her own personal safety, she carried a small gun with her that was concealed in her purse. No one would have of thought that she was armed in public.  
  
The plane finally landed in England. "I'm finally here, I might as well enjoy myself while it lasts for these three weeks and I'm then off to France." After finding her luggage and hailing a taxi, she ended up in the heart of London. During those three weeks, she visited Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, and the Tower London. By the end of those three weeks, she felt relax as ever and was ready to head over to France.  
  
The plane ride to France was uneventful and after navigating her way through Paris, she finally managed to check into a hotel. The concierge greeted her in French at first, but after she tried speaking her French, he knew to speak in English. "Welcome to Paris. How can I help you?"  
  
Relena replied, "I need a single room for the next three weeks."  
  
"I have a room for you up on the tenth floor. It has a nice view of the Eiffel Tower. Will that be alright for you?"  
  
"That will be alright. Thank you." The concierge then gave her the card key and directed her to the elevators. Once in an elevator, the bellboy looked at Relena suspiciously, but she figured that it was a long night for him. The ride to the tenth floor seemed like an endless period of torture, but after looking at the screen showing the floor numbers, the number ten finally appeared. The bellboy then helped Relena with her bags and escorted her to her room. She said good night and the bellboy did the same. She shut the door and headed straight towards her spacious bed and fell on it, "I'm glad that's over."   
  
The room that she stayed in looked more like a mini apartment with a spacious bed and that the living room was furnished with a black loveseat and glass coffee table. She saw a telephone on her nightstand and decided to call home, since it would be her first contact.   
  
"Hi Zechs."  
  
"Well it's about time you called. We've been wondering where you ran off to."  
  
"I'm still in one piece and that everything is going fine. Anything new over there?"  
  
A pause was heard on the other line, "How can I put this...do you remember the day that phony reporter was caught by Heero?"  
  
"Yes. Why?" A sense of fear then crept into her mind.  
  
"He escaped yesterday from the Preventers Headquarters with help from someone posing as a false Preventer."  
  
"I thought the headquarters was safe and impossible to escape."  
  
"That's what I thought."  
  
"Is everyone safe over there?"  
  
"Everyone is safe over here, but Heero seems to have disappeared. I can never find him anymore. You take care of yourself now. Alright, I mean it. I have to get back to work now."  
  
"Keep me informed if you hear anything."  
  
"Agreed."  
  
"Goodbye." She hung the phone back on its receiver. After sitting still for ten minutes on her bed, Relena decided to take a shower to escape from the fears she once thought that she abandoned from the start of her vacation. Once inside the shower stall, she had warm water bath her along with the scent of lavender. "I could live like this forever." After a fifteen-minute shower, she headed out in her white robe and slipped into her pink nightgown. After reassuring herself that everything will be okay, she headed towards the balcony of her hotel room. Once she opened the door, she saw the Eiffel Tower in the near distance, radiating in the night with its lights. She whispered to herself, "Heero, where are you?" The breeze began to pick up but she didn't mind, her wet air swirled about her as she looked up towards the night sky.   
  
Down below her on the street, somebody standing within the shadows was watching her. He had a pair of binoculars in his hand and was determining her balcony's position. He then dialed on his cell phone, "Boss, it's me. She's here in Paris."  
  
"Good then, make sure you've done the job right or you'll be heading back to where you came from."  
  
He gulped in response, "I won't botch the mission, sir."  
  
"You better not, we were damn lucky of not getting caught back at the Preventers." The other person on the line hung abruptly.  
  
"Well, Ms. Relena Peacecraft. You will have a night to remember soon." He then walked off onto the busy city street posing as a regular tourist, just admiring the city. In his backpack, a bellboy uniform was in there. As he was walking away from the hotel, he was unaware that a man was watching him with dark glasses sitting at a local café. He had his laptop out on the counter. He looked towards the lighted screen and saw a message waiting for him.   
  
"Mission accepted."

* * *

Relena had slept peacefully during her first night in Paris. During her three weeks there, she shopped practically every store that she could think of. "Zechs will have a fit when I get back since I almost maxed my credit card to the limit." She left a fashion boutique and headed back to her hotel room. On her way there, she accidentally bumped into a man disguised with dark glasses and his hair was concealed under a black hat.   
  
"Sorry about that, miss. Here let me help you." He picked up the odd number of shopping bags that Relena was carrying.  
  
"Thank you." After that incident, Relena quickly went back to her hotel. As she was walking away, the man continued to follow her with his eyes.   
  
After walking for another two blocks, she finally made it to the hotel. The doorman greeted her in French and she acknowledged. She then went on an elevator that took her up to the tenth floor, she noticed that the bellboy was different again, but as soon as the elevator stopped at her floor, she decided to dismiss the thought. She then entered her room, and noticed that her phone was blinking with a red light. She then pressed the message button.  
  
The message played an eerie calm of silence. It lasted for only a minute, but it baffled her as to why no one would speak on the other end. She heard someone breathing, though she thought. She pressed another button on the phone to delete the message. Within seconds, it was gone. She decided to call Zechs, but when she called him, no one answered on the other line. She left a brief message stating that she would be coming home over the weekend. With that, she placed the phone back onto its holder. She peered out the window and saw the Paris night skyline come to life.  
  
"I'm going to miss Paris so much." She tossed her black high heel shoes towards the corner of her bed. "I knew I should have brought walking shoes instead." She walked over to her luggage and prepared her things for her flight home that would happen in just a day. Once everything was in order, she decided to unwind herself in the shower as always. The warm mist hung like a cloud in the room, but it made her feel more relaxed and that it began to feel like a sauna. After stepping out onto the cold white marble floor tiles and reaching for her white robe, she grabbed a towel nearby her and started to dry her hair.  
  
As she was doing that, someone managed to slip a single red rose under her door. After making sure that her hair was somewhat dry, she headed out into the main room and slipped into a lilac colored nightgown. She then noticed the single red rose on her floor and picked it up, "I wonder who could have left this here." She placed it in a small vase on a nearby table and headed over to her nightstand to grab her gun. With the slim weapon in her hand, she opened the door cautiously.   
  
She looked towards the left and the right end of the hallway, but no one was to be seen at both ends. "That's strange." She closed the door behind her and felt a chill in the room. The door leading towards the balcony was open and the white curtains surrounding the door were flying in the cold air. "I thought I had shut those doors before." After standing still for a minute and looking around her room, she decided to call hotel security, but her phone line was dead. "That's funny, this phone was working just an hour ago." She placed the phone back on its tan receiver and decided that she was just over-exaggerating things. With that in mind, she placed her gun on the glass coffee table and headed towards the balcony to get some fresh air.   
  
While standing on the balcony, she heard the city nightlife below her. The sounds of horns beeping and sounds of clamoring footsteps on the pavements were present everywhere. After absorbing her last scene of Paris in her mind, she headed back into her room and noticed that something was different. The rose that was in the vase had a black ribbon tied to it and was lying on her bed now, "What's going on in here?" Right then, a cold hand wrapped around her neck from behind her.  
  
TBC


	3. A New Threat

"Reminiscing"  
  
Chapter 3: A New Threat  
  
Hi everyone, sorry for the long delay, but to make it up, I posted two more chapters!! Hopefully the characters aren't too OOC now (thanks Ukchana.) I revised the previous two chapters again, lol, it seems like the revamping process will never end...anyhow, enough with my rambling. Disclaimers: I don't own Gundam Wing or any of its characters.

* * *

Back at Zechs's home, Noin and him were sitting on the couch in his study. "You seem to be worried all of the sudden. She's coming home in just a day, Zechs."  
  
"I know and that's what worries me. I'm not even sure if the so-called reporter that came here just a month and half ago was joking about his threat. I just have a funny feeling."  
  
Noin cupped his hands in hers, "You did send Heero after her, once you figured out where she was in France through her credit card transactions."  
  
"The only problem is that he's not responding through our communications."  
  
"You know how he is, he doesn't liked to be bothered...I'm sure he's watching her right now." Zechs looked into her soft eyes and saw the reassurance.  
  
"I think you should get back to work now before more agreements come through," she winked at him.  
  
"There's no time like the present." With that, Zechs went back to his makeshift office in his own home, while Noin decided to drive to the Preventer Headquarters to see if there were any updates on their renegade prisoner that had escaped. On her way there, her cell phone rang off.  
  
"Noin here."  
  
A voice on the other end began to speak, "We have some bad news here, the prisoner that escaped from here, made an appearance."  
  
"Where?" she asked.  
  
"Our sources say in France."   
  
Right then, Noin immediately knew that Relena was in danger. "Call Zechs to tell him about the news. Has the prisoner attempted anything yet?"  
  
"We're not sure about that. The reports are still sketchy."  
  
"Damn them, tell them to get on the case right away." She abruptly ended the conversation and began to floor her car in order to get to the headquarters. After taking a variety of left and right turns, she eventually ended up taking a side road that led up to her destination. In her speeding frenzy, she left a trail of brown dust at the rear of her jeep. She finally managed to pull up to the front gates, where a Preventer was on guard and realizing that it was Noin, he quickly lifted the gates, allowing her to speed right through.  
  
After finding a nearby parking spot, she jumped out of her jeep and headed indoors to the main control room, where the communications network were wired throughout the world. Lady Une was standing under one of the larger flat computer screens looking through French news reports to see if any story of Relena was released to the public.   
  
"What's the update?" asked Noin who was catching her breath from her run from the parking lot.  
  
"Nothing. It seems like the story hasn't leaked yet, about our hit-man."   
  
"Are any of our officers closet to Relena?"  
  
"They're spread throughout the countries right now."  
  
Lady Une then went to the closet phone and dialed Relena's hotel number, but received a busy signal on the other end. Noin looked on and noticed that Une's face showed agitation. "I've tried calling the hotel a couple of times before, but I keep receiving the same tone on the other end."   
  
"Has Zechs received the news yet?"  
  
"He has."  
  
"How did he take it?"  
  
"He was shocked to say the least, but Pagan is with him right now."  
  
Noin then led her thoughts back to Heero's whereabouts, "Let's just hope that Heero is nearby."  
  
Lady Une acknowledged, but the feeling of worry was washed across her face, while the same can be applied to Noin. The two continued to work throughout the day in hopes of hearing something from Relena to let them know that she is safe.

* * *

The intruder kept his hold on Relena's neck as she tried to fight him off with her legs kicking him in the groin. After kicking him a couple of times, the assailant began to feel the pain and dropped her on the floor, she was no where near to where her gun was. She gasped for air and tried to run from him before he eventually caught up with her near the door.  
  
"Where do you think you're going my love?" in a harsh tone. He then grabbed her by the arms and yanked her back towards him.   
  
"Someone, help..." her voice was cut off with a hand over her mouth. She tried to bite him.  
  
Right then, the intruder took out some syringe and she felt the needle go into her neck. She felt the substance go through her veins and she became limp in her attacker's arms. He then carried her towards the bed and placed her there.  
  
"That should do the trick." He then went over to his backpack and pulled out a metal object. "It's a shame that I have to kill you now to fulfill his plans." He walked over to her side and looked on in a devilish way, noticing that she was still breathing. A smirk was seen on his face. "Unless..." He dropped his weapon on the floor and began to stroke her face gently. Eventually, his hands began to slip the shoulder straps off her nightgown.  
  
"Get your hands off of her." Heero suddenly appeared out of nowhere and pounced on the attacker. "I should have known that you would come back." He then slugged the so-called reporter in the abdomen, where he eventually fell to his feet and coughed violently. Heero continued to attack the man, but the intruder also threw punches back at him.   
  
"I should have killed you when I had chance," screamed the man. Heero didn't respond, but continued to defend himself against Relena's assailant. Eventually, the intruder went towards his knife that he had dropped and flashed it in front of Heero. The intruder made quick jabs here and there, but Heero was too fast for him. Eventually, Heero threw a chair at the intruder making him dodge to the ground, while at the same time, Heero decided to hide from the intruder in an effort to stop him. "Where are you? I know you're in here, somewhere." The man continued to look behind furniture and in closets. Unknown to him, Heero was hiding behind the curtains that led towards the balcony. He held Relena's gun his hand, knowing that his own was empty for the time being.  
  
Heero kept his sight on the intruder as he was making his way towards him and within a second, he caught the intruder off guard and the knife slipped from his hands. The two started another wrestling fight, but before long, the gun that he was holding was knocked out of his hands...it was sent spiraling across the carpeted floor.   
  
The man dove for his knife again, but Heero managed to wrestle it away from him and right then, the intruder slumped to the ground. He checked to see if the man had a pulse still, in which he did. He went over to the gun and picked it up, just in case there were others around. He went over to Relena's side and carried her over to his room, which was just down the hall. After placing her on his bed, Heero went back to her room, but when he entered it, he noticed that the body of Relena's assailant was gone. The red stains from the fight were still there. He did a peripheral scan of the room to see if anything out of the ordinary would hint at some clue, but after turning up nothing, he then called the Preventer Headquarters to inform them about the situation and what had happened.   
  
One sentence brought relief to them, "Relena is safe." He returned to his room and found Relena still unconscious, but breathing and with that sign, he let out a slight sigh of relief. He went to his bathroom and brought back a basin of warm water with a small washcloth with him. He then moistened the cloth in the water and gingerly patted her forehead and her collarbone. In the process, he also noticed the marks on her neck, which were pale purple now. He gently stroked the bruised area and placed ice around the area to help reduce the swelling. Once he was done, he pulled up a light blanket over her and sat in a chair nearby just in case she awoke during the night.

* * *

Back at the Preventer Headquarters, everyone was scrambling to collect information, but to no avail could they find any leads about the person or the group in charge of the attack.   
  
"Are you sure you can't find anything?" asked an agitated Lady Une, who was talking to one of their sources in France on the vid phone.  
  
The man on the other end, "For the second time. I'm sure. We examined the room and found the blood stains on the carpet and a syringe lying close to the door. Otherwise the main weapon and the assailant are nowhere to be seen. Whoever this group is, they're pretty picky about leaving any clues behind."  
  
"Did you do a fingerprint and DNA analysis yet?"  
  
"One of my officers over here examined the syringe and found nothing. As for the DNA, it looks like they tampered the site because when we analyzed here, the blood cells were clumped together with different blood samples."  
  
"That's just great. Thanks any way." She closed the link and looked on towards Noin, who had just walked into her office.  
  
"What did they say?"  
  
"They couldn't find anything. You should go back to Zechs, he needs you."  
  
"All right then." Noin then left the headquarters and headed straight towards Zechs during that late afternoon.  
  
TBC


	4. Renewal

"Reminiscing"  
  
Chapter 4: Renewal  
  
Hi everyone!! Disclaimers: I do not own Gundam Wing or any of its characters. (In this chapter, two new characters are introduced but they're mine.) Anyhow, enjoy!

* * *

The sun's rays slowly filtered through a window that was nearby Heero. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, in which he must have dozed off a couple of times from the previous night. All he could remember was wrestling Relena's attacker to the floor and that the attacker managed to fall onto his own knife. He stared over to Relena, who was still peacefully asleep for the moment. "At least she's safe..." he murmured to himself and let out a sigh of relief. He got up from his seat and headed towards his bathroom to freshen up from the night before.   
  
As for Relena, the sound of running water finally awoke her from her slumber. At first, she blinked a couple of times as she stared towards the ceiling and wondered where she was. She felt a small wave of pain emanating from her neck, but after feeling the sore spot, she finally realized what happened from the previous night. She tried to move, but the pain on her chest was too much for her and she collapsed back down on the bed. She lay in the bed for a while, as she collected her thoughts, but then she saw someone emerge from the bathroom. Her eyes widened for a moment, but then realized that it was Heero himself.  
  
The two remained silent as if time stood still for them both before Relena was the first to break the silence, "How did you know that I was here?" She managed her upper strength and rested her back on a pile of pillows.  
  
"I have my ways."   
  
Relena tried to get up again, but this time, Heero was there by her side. "I should be heading back to my room now, I'm leaving this evening." Flashes from the previous night's encounter came to her, which made her body shiver slightly at the thought of her near death experience. She slightly spoke, "If it weren't for you, I would be dead by now."   
  
Tears began to stream down her face, as Heero held her closer. He wished he could tell her his feelings, but he didn't dare to mix his emotions with his missions, even though he was now a Preventer. He continued to hold her, sshing her and that he knew she was sorry for leaving them abruptly. "You should stay here for the day, in case anyone tries to harm you again. I'll have your belongings secured on a jet that'll take you back home for tonight."

* * *

Within the Preventer Headquarters, everyone was busy as ever in trying to track down the unknown hit man. Some officers were scanning through the French newspapers to see if anyone had any idea of what group was responsible for the attempted murder. Others were telephoning various sources near the area, but all in all, everyone found nothing in their reports and searches.  
  
Noin entered Une's office with a look of disappointment on her face, "So, what's the verdict?"  
  
"Why are you still here, I thought I told you to go back to Zechs."  
  
"I did, but he sent me right back here in the middle of the night."  
  
Une held a look of frustration in her eyes, "There's nothing, we can't even find anything. It seems like whoever this group is; they did a complete vanishing act right before our eyes. There's no trace of them anywhere."  
  
"Do you think it was linked to the reporter that escaped here a few weeks ago?"  
  
Sally had then entered in on the conversation, "It looks like that way, doesn't it?"  
  
"Whatever happened in Paris might happen again. But why would they go after Relena? They should be going after Zechs or the other members of the E.S.U.N. We should be on the look out for anything." Une gave a puzzling look as she resumed looking through the stacks of papers on her desk, along with Noin and Sally.

* * *

Relena was all to herself for the remainder of the day, even though she was still in Heero's room. She fingered through her belongings that Heero had salvaged from her room and he even brought her the teddy bear that she took along for the trip.   
  
"Oh Heero," she whispered, "I just wish I could say one thing to you." She let out a soft sigh as tears welled up in her eyes and placed the bear within her belongings. By nightfall, she was finished packing and was ready to leave Paris along with the hopes of having any relationship with Heero.  
  
Heero finalized the plans for obtaining the private jet, while Relena checked herself out of the hotel. The manager was careful of being discrete about her leaving in case of any media trying to get a hold of her for an impromptu interview and with the previous night's incident. He eventually met up with Relena in a private room of the hotel, where he escorted her to the airfield, where the two would be flying home back in the safety of Zechs and the Preventers. By the time the two reached the tarmac, rain started to fall and with a slight mist over the area, Relena imprinted a last image of Paris in her heart.   
  
The flight home went uneventful and at times, Relena drifted into a light sleep, but she never looked back to the seat, where Heero was sitting at. Within a couple of hours, the jet landed on an open landing field within the boundaries of the Preventers Headquarters. It was close to dawn, but it was still somewhat dark. Once the door leading to the outside world was open, she felt a sigh of relief that she was finally home and that she could get on with her own life, away from the public's eye.  
  
Zechs was waiting for her along with Pagan. "Welcome back, Ms. Relena."  
  
"Thank you, Pagan. It's nice to be home for now." She looked towards Zechs.  
  
"Welcome home." He ran over to hug her.   
  
Relena then looked over her brother's shoulders and saw Heero emerged from the jet and before long, he disappeared into the confines of the Preventer Headquarters awaiting for his next mission. "Let's go home, now."

* * *

Somewhere in a remote area, two guards in a beige uniforms stood on watch at a metal gate as a black limousine slowly made its way up a dirt path. At first, the two guards examined the vehicle until they gave the driver clearance to enter the compound along with his passenger. "We're here, sir." With that, the man in the back emerged from the limousine, as guards awaited from the side in a salute to him. He was about thirty and of medium statute. His dark brown eyes scanned the wooded area in case any spies that laid hidden in the trees that surrounded his camouflaged base. He wanted to be cautious than ever.  
  
"General Norfolk, sir."  
  
"At ease, gentlemen." He was then escorted through glass doors and within the building, a maze of intelligence informants were situated at various monitors that were keeping track of the Preventers' progress. "I heard that our mission in Paris failed."  
  
"That's affirmative, sir," replied one of the guards that was walking with him. The mere teenager guided his leader to a series of hallways.  
  
"Was there any evidence leading towards our group?"  
  
"No, sir. Our rogue agents went to the scene immediately and carried the suspect's body out of the room. I was told that the bloodstains and the knife were removed, but our other sources say that some bloodstains remained, but were tampered with. The only object that was left on the scene was the syringe used to sedate Ms. Peacecraft. Again, the fingerprints were wiped clean from that object."   
  
"Very well then...do we have a new recruit in our next mission?"  
  
"He's waiting in a room right now. Sir, would it be wise just to take down Milliardo directly rather than going through his family first?"  
  
"Are you questioning my judgment?" His voice was harsh and calculating.  
  
"No sir." The soldier kept his peace for the rest of the walk and only spoke when directly asked.   
The two entered through another corridor of hallways that lead to the screening room, where the interviewing process began. After going through a retinal scan, the two finally met their new recruit, face to face. He sat in a metallic chair under the one main light in the silver cell. His light brown hair was short and that he had soft blue eyes. Overall, he was muscular for his age of twenty-two. He wore jeans and a gray t-shirt.  
  
"So what is your name?"  
  
"Travis Donal."  
  
"It seems your credentials are in order, my officers will notify you in weeks to come of your possible assignment. For now, you must keep this meeting a secret and that you mustn't disclose any information to the public or to anyone else."  
  
"Fair enough."  
  
"These layouts might come in handy later on." He gave a Travis a small brown manila envelope filled with details of Relena's home. "This was the very last information from our previous rouge agent gave to us before he was eliminated."  
  
"I'll make sure that these will be well hidden."  
  
Very well...you're dismissed."  
  
With that Travis, saluted to his primary officer and left the premise under the cover of darkness. He went to his car that was parked nearby and when he stepped into it, he sat in the driver's seat for a while. Curiosity began to take over his mind and he opened the small manila envelope inside there were the snapshots of Relena's home and second floor layout of her home. "This is my mission." He quickly returned the items back to their envelope and speedily drove off into the dark night on an endless winding road.  
  
Back within the base, General Norfolk entered his own private room. Within the room, pictures from his military days were scattered about with him in front of some OZ mobile suits. "It just seems like yesterday, I was piloting one of those suits." He quickly went to a small refrigerator and pulled out a small bottle of red wine. He quickly uncorked the bottle and poured him a glass. He then sat in a leather swivel chair and turned on the news for the day. A screen lighted up in front of him and on there was a picture of Zechs. He didn't hear what the feminine reporter was saying, he could only see her lips were mouthing something about Zechs. "One day my friend, we'll meet again...you can count on that." He raised his glass to the onscreen picture of Zechs.

* * *

A month passed by since Relena's return from her European vacation. Her life slowly returned back to normal, in which she could finally enjoy the peace around her home at last. But during the same time, thoughts of Heero emerged from her sub conscience and plagued in her dreams. The landscape was now dusted in white as the first snow shower engulfed the area.   
  
Pagan then walked in, "Ms. Relena, I've picked up your dress at the local cleaners. They have made the alterations that you requested. I placed it in your closet."  
  
"Thank you, Pagan. Tell Zechs that I'll be ready in about two hours." Pagan nodded at her request and slowly left the study area.  
  
In two hours, Relena was ready and she walked out of her room wearing a light blue spaghetti strapped dress that nearly touched the floor along with a floral patterned diamond necklace. "Well, how do I look?"  
  
"You look stunning. We better leave now, before all of the guests think that I had abandoned them."  
  
"Where's Noin?"  
  
"I'm right here." She was running across the foyer in a black dinner dress that barely covered her shoulders, "The snow's getting pretty bad out there."  
  
With that, the three left and headed to a nearby dance hall that was rented out for the night's occasion. Within the party, a quartet played the background music, while various diplomats were invited for the Christmas party. Relena wandered about the hall finding anyone she could recognize, but for the most part, she only found diplomats who sent warm wishes to her and her family for the Christmas season. For most of the dance, she sat out and watched Zechs and Noin have the time of their lives. She never had seen the two be that happy in such a long while.  
  
Eventually she left the main dance hall and wandered into the empty chandelier lit hallway. Her high heels clicked along the tiled floor, as she walked into one of the private rooms to escape her thoughts. The room that she had entered was dark, but it still contained enough light from the hallway to navigate towards the cold frosted windows. She looked outside to see that the roads were completely covered with snow and that a few snowflakes lingered in the air. But when she looked at the window itself, all she could make out was the faint shimmering of her floral patterned diamond necklace.  
  
She whispered something that was inaudible to anyone else in the room. Her breath materialized in the cold air of the room and eventually, it frosted the window in front of her even more.   
  
The thoughts of her Paris experience weren't too far away from her mind still. The images gave her goose bumps and she slightly shivered in the cold room.

* * *

Travis was at his small apartment putting his tools in order. Just three weeks ago, an unexpected letter was found at the foot of his apartment door. The message had a symbol on it with a red bird rising from the flames. One sentence was written on it, "It is time to finish." Within minutes, he was out the door.  
  
TBC  
  
Stay tuned for chapter five!! Please review and thank you.


	5. Desperate Measures

"Reminiscing"  
  
Chapter 5: Desperate Measures  
  
Disclaimers: I don't own Gundam Wing or any of its characters.

* * *

Relena continued to stand in the darken room, just trying to pass the time before it was time to leave with Zechs and Noin for the night. Right then, someone had tapped her on the shoulders, which made her heart skipped a beat. It also triggered the fears from her brush with death in Paris, all over again. She quickly spun around to see who was behind her and to her amazement, it was Heero dressed in a simple tuxedo. On his right pocket, there was a single white carnation pinned down.   
  
She stared at him with her blue eyes, imprinting the image of him in her mind. She told herself not to fall in love with him again, but with him right there, standing in front of her, her feelings for him began to run anew within her heart and soul. Before she had a chance to say anything, he grabbed her by the waist as the two started to slow dance in the room.   
  
"Why did you come back?" she whispered.  
  
In response to her question, Heero continued to dance with her, but he never answered her question directly. The two remained silent for a while until they both heard the music stop and that the hallway was beginning to fill with commotion, which signaled that the guests were leaving.  
  
"Where could she be?"  
  
"Maybe she just wandered off to get some fresh air, Zechs. She is free to do what she wants to."  
  
Relena then emerged from the darken room and right beside her was Heero.  
  
"There you are. We've been looking for you within the ball room." And when Zechs saw Heero next to Relena, he was shocked at first, but eventually he was able to greet him. "We're leaving now, Relena."   
  
"I guess I'll have to make this meeting short then. It was nice seeing you again. Good night, Heero." She walked over to her brother, but midway there, she felt her right arm being grabbed back.  
  
"I'll take her home."  
  
"Well, all right then."  
  
Zechs and Noin left the dance hall, while Heero and Relena remained inside. The two were walking to another exit, and after they had passed through a glass revolving door. The cold night air surrounded the two, even though their winter attire gave them little protection, as they made their way to a white limo that was parked by the sidewalks of the dance hall. He held the door for her as she stepped in and once he was finally seated, they began the short ride to her home. Throughout the drive, the two remained quiet, as the limo made its way across the ice glazed roads.  
  
Relena then asked her question again, hoping to hear a response from him, "Why did you come back?"  
  
"I'm on assignment," he focused his sight ahead of him.  
  
She acknowledged his answer and before long, the limo pulled into the front driveway of her home. "Thanks for the ride then."   
  
Heero then left his seat and opened the passenger door for her. As she was stepping out with her right foot, she lost her footing on a sheet of ice, and nearly fell, but luckily, Heero caught her in the nick of time. She slightly blushed and looked away from his Prussian eyes, "I guess I should have seen that coming." Heero gently let her go and watched her as she walked up to the front door. "I guess Pagan must have left for the night." After fumbling with the frozen keyhole, Relena finally managed to enter into her own home. "You can come in you know. It's better than standing out in this cold weather."  
  
Heero acknowledged and slowly looked around the room to see what has changed during his months of absence. He picked up a picture frame on a living room table and noticed that it was group photo. Duo and Hilde were standing one in front of the other with him being in the back of her, while Zechs and Noin were standing side by side. As for Dorothy and Quatre, they both smiled into the camera standing next to each other, while for Sally and Wufei they stood to the right of the group. Relena and Heero were standing in the middle of the group, to the right of them, Trowa stood alongside Catherine and Lady Une.  
  
"I remember that picture," replied Relena. "It was taken at the Preventer Headquarters from a picnic."  
  
"I remember."

* * *

Unknown to Heero, an intruder was hiding in the snow-covered bushes. "I guess it's time to put my plan into action, then." He began to scale a small maple that was located at the rear of Relena's home. At first, he kept sliding down the tree trunk because of the ice and the snow, "I should have brought my ice picks if I known about this." Eventually, he made it to one of the back windows and used a laser to cut through the glass. He gently removed the cold glass and slipped it down onto the floor. In a matter of minutes, he was in the house, waiting to put his boss's plans into full gear.  
  
Down below in the living room, Heero sensed something was wrong, but decided to dismiss the foreshadowing feeling of his. "I should leave now, it's getting late." He then got up from the couch he was sitting at and headed towards the door. "Thanks for everything."  
  
"I could set up a room for you for the night." She looked out the window and noticed that the limo had pulled away. "I guess your ride already left too."  
  
Heero then agreed to her conditions. But still, he felt something wasn't quite right. He watched Relena traverse the staircase leading to the second floor and he could hear the footsteps that she was making.   
  
Upstairs in one of the various guest bedrooms, Relena had just passed the room that the intruder was situated in the darkness. "Ah, my target is now in sight." He stealthily left his hiding spot and followed Relena into one of the rooms. She was about to turn on the lights, but the intruder quickly placed his hands over her mouth to prevent her from screaming. He took out a small cutting knife and flashed it in front of her. The silver light reflected over her face and shoulders. "You better not make any quick sudden moves or I'll kill you right now."   
  
She decided to play mind games on her kidnapper. She watched him peep out the door and as he was doing so, she quickly grabbed her silver gun that she carried at all times now. It was hidden in a holster that she tied around her left leg. She knew that she had only two bullets left. She silently cocked the gun in her hands and pointed at the man that stood in front of her. "BANG." Her kidnapper fell in the middle of the doorframe...blood emanated from his shoulder. She quickly walked out of the room, but she then she felt something catch her ankle and she dropped to the floor.  
  
"I should have been more careful." Her kidnapper got on the defensive and grabbed the knife back into his hands. He then pulled Relena to stand and took out to the hallway. They were just at the apex of the staircase, where Heero greeted them.  
  
"Let her go."   
  
"Not a chance." Right then, the intruder pulled something silver out his hands and pointed it at Heero. Realizing what it was, Relena tried to warn Heero, but then it was too late. He felt a twinge of pain in his right shoulder, but he seemed to ignore it. "So not dead yet...try this then." The man then threw a small canister of a sedative gas onto the floor and with that Heero fell to the floor, as he felt his eyes burn each time he opened them and that his muscles began to tighten. He covered his mouth and slowed his breathing down to prevent the full effects of the substance in overcoming his body.  
  
"Heero!!" Relena tried to fight off her attacker by biting at his hands that tried to cover her mouth. She escaped at first and ran to Heero's side, her hair falling over her shoulders as she knelt beside him. She softly whispered his name, but she didn't hear a response from him. She then felt Travis's strong grip on her shoulders again, as she was pulled away from Heero's side. "Let me go!!"   
  
"Say good night." He flashed the knife in front of her again in his right hand, as his left arm was wrapped around her neck.  
  
Her vision began to blur as blackness was slowly taking over her body, she looked into her attacker's eyes and saw that they were intent on killing her. She saw his hand raise the silver object and before long, a shockwave of pain was felt near her stomach. She slowly fell to the floor with her hands covering her life-threatening wound. The blood was seeping through her dress, changing the color of light blue to a dark purplish hue. She looked to Heero who lay quietly on the floor, his right shoulder slightly bleeding. She slightly coughed as her breathing became shallower, before long, everything around her turned black.  
  
The attacker looked towards Heero. "I shouldn't leave any witnesses behind. The boss will kill me." He then flashed the knife stained with Relena's blood, the red liquid glistened off the silver surface. He was about to strike Heero. Just before he struck, Heero sprang to life and quickly moved out of harm's way and knocked the weapon out of the attacker's hand. The two continued their fistfight until Heero managed to choke him, rendering the attacker unconscious for the time being and he then bounded him with a small cloth towel that he had found in a room.  
  
Heero quickly ran back to Relena's side and examined her wound. The knife had entered into her abdomen and he quickly ripped parts of his tuxedo and placed the makeshift bandage near the wound, in hopes of stopping the massive bleeding. He then ran to the hallway phone and dialed for an ambulance. "We need medical help, Relena Peacecraft has been seriously wounded."  
  
A hospital staff member on the other line responded, "We'll be there in five minutes, if the roads are manageable."   
  
"Please hurry." He then went back to her side and held her in his arms. He looked towards the wound again and saw that the bleeding hadn't stopped yet. "Hold on." He gently held her, keeping pressure on her wound.  
  
A soft whisper was heard, "Heero....I thought you..."  
  
"Sshh. Save your breath." He noticed that her lips were becoming pale blue. He looked up from her and listened to see if he could hear any sirens coming in the direction of her home, "Where are they? They should have been here by now." Flashes of red light emerged from the windows, reflecting off the dark walls of the hallway. "Relena, they're here now." Heero waited for a response, but he didn't hear one. "Relena?"  
  
Downstairs in the foyer, the door was opened and one member of the paramedics yelled, "Where is she?"  
  
Heero heard the paramedic, "She's up here." Within seconds, Heero saw a team of three haul up a backboard and examined Relena's critical state. Before long, her limp body was placed on the backboard and was carried to the ambulance that was waiting on the driveway. Once they were outside, Heero saw Lady Une standing next to the ambulance. She was ordering others to secure the premises, in case there was more than one suspect on their hands. She looked towards Heero's direction, her brown eyes hinting the worry within her.  
  
"How is she doing?"  
  
"She's been stabbed. Her attacker is upstairs on the second floor in the hallway."  
  
"Are you fine?"  
  
He nodded, his shirt was stained with her blood.  
  
"You should go with her, I'll take the intruder back to headquarters." She watched Heero enter the ambulance that took Relena to the hospital. Once she heard the sirens blare off in the distance, she called up for backup and entered Relena's home. At the base of the staircase, she took out her pistol and slowly crept up the stairs in case if there were anymore suspects running lose throughout the home. In less than five feet from her, she saw the attacker and tugged at his tied arms to move downstairs. Before long, the Preventers were in front of the house and took their prime suspect back for interrogation.

* * *

On the ride to the hospital, the medics were monitoring Relena's vitals carefully and watched her pulse rate, which wavered at certain times due to the bumpy road. The green line would rise and fall with certain peaks higher than the others, her heart rate started to decrease.  
  
One of the medics continued to bag her in hopes of maintaining a steady breathing pattern. Right then, an alarming sound rang off on one of the portable monitors. "BEEEEP, BEEEEP..."  
  
A paramedic in a black uniform immediately shouted to his partner, who was driving, "Her pulse is crashing, we need to get there now."   
  
Outside of the ambulance, the red lights were flashing vividly and its sirens were blaring. The snow started to fall again.  
  
"We're almost there." The driver shouted over his shoulder. He began to increase his speed, being careful not to make sudden moves on the slick roads, otherwise he would put everyone in great danger.   
  
Time slowly passed as Heero saw Relena slipping away from him. He felt hopelessness and all he could do was watch. He didn't even noticed that blood was seeping out from his right shoulder. With the time as being a Gundam pilot, he must have blocked the pain out of his mind.   
  
The paramedic brought him out of his trance, "It looks like you need some medical attention."  
  
Heero slowly came to the surface of his conscious mind, "I can manage."  
  
"Well, have one of the emergency docs. look at your wound."  
  
"Just help her." He felt the ambulance pull into the back end of a hospital. Outside he saw a team of doctors waiting for their arrival. All them had protective covering over their white coats. They already had a gurney waiting for her.  
  
A sound of pounding came on the back door, "We're ready," a voice was heard on the other side. With that, the medic immediately opened the door and jumped out. He started to move Relena's stretcher and placed it on the gurney. Heero heard rapid fire conversation, something about BP, vital stats, and stab wound near the abdomen, but he couldn't make sense to most of their medical language. The only word he truly understood was "crashing." Within less than a minute, Relena was through the doors with a team of doctors. He was left standing out by the ambulance  
  
He slowly walked through the sliding doors. He slowly paced the hallways to see where Relena was taken too. His vision began to blur slightly due to the loss of his blood, but he persevered in his mission to find Relena. He heard calls coming to and from various examination rooms. The stench of the hospital started to nauseate him slightly, but he was used to the sights. He started to turn around one corner and saw a nurse rush past him with a dark crimson bag in her hands. He followed her and in minutes, he was there, outside looking in through the clear windows.   
  
Tubes and monitors were hanging around the both sides of her. The monitor showed a green flat line on the screen. Her skin looked pale than ever.   
  
"I have the O negative blood right here." The nurse quickly gave to the doctor in charged and they immediately set up a bloodline in hopes of getting her pressure back up to a safe range.  
  
"Charging to two hundred." The doctors had a defibrillator ready. They had placed special electrical patches on her skin. "Ready...clear!" The staff immediately removed their hands from whatever they were doing to Relena. He placed the two pads on her and right then, her body slightly lifted from the table.   
  
The line on the screen still remained flat. "Again." He charged up the defibrillator to the two hundred setting. "Ready...clear!"   
  
Heero watched as they shocked her several more times, "Come on..." He didn't even notice that his wound was getting worse. "Come on..."  
  
The doctors were still trying to revive her. "How many minutes has she been down?"  
  
"At least five."  
  
They then heard something crash out by the windows.  
  
"We need a doctor out here. This man is severely bleeding." A nurse shouted through the examination room's doors.  
  
TBC  
  
How was that for chapter five? The suspense and drama is starting to build. Anyway thank you for reading chapter five.   
  
Silentheaven: Thank you for the review!


	6. Survival

"Reminiscing"  
  
Chapter 6: Survival  
  
Hi everyone, sorry about the long delay, it's just that organic chemistry is taking up most of my time. But, I thank you for your patience and hopefully you'll enjoy this chapter. Disclaimers: I don't own Gundam Wing or any of its characters.

* * *

"RING...RING...RING."  
  
"What's taking him so long to answer?" Noin was on her phone at the Preventer headquarters. She received an abrupt call from Lady Une, the minute she walked into Zechs's home.   
  
One line from their conversation captured her fear, "Relena has been stabbed....they're trying to revive her right now." With that, she dropped the receiver she held in her hands and immediately changed into her Preventer uniform and headed back to headquarters in the dark silent night. Within less than twenty minutes, she was in her office, trying to get a hold of Zechs. "Come on please answer, I know the phone was working the minute I left." On the other end, the endless ringing was still heard.   
  
Her vid phone was down due to some jamming signal to prevent the early morning's story from leaking out to the public, even though certain preventive measures were already implemented throughout the headquarters.   
  
"Hey there, it's me."  
  
"Noin, where have you been? The minute I walked in, you were gone."  
  
"Something unexpected came up," her voice slightly trailed off, trying to fight back the tears that came to her. Her voice remained calm. Right then, an officer walked in and handed her a small brief note that was from the hospital, it was face down on her desk. She looked at the white sheet that lay in front of her, and dreaded the message that it might contain. Thinking within her conscience, "Please don't let it be...I don't think I can handle the news." Her right hand trembled as it crept towards the white colored paper. She felt the rough surface within her fingers and she quickly flipped it over, her eyes slowly reading the lines of fine print.   
  
"What's wrong, Noin?" He heard her let out a sigh.   
  
"It's Relena...someone broke into her home early this morning. She was stabbed, Zechs. They took her to Neumann General hospital. Heero was injured too...they just notified me." She waited for him to respond on the other end, all she heard was dead silence. "Talk to me, Zechs." She heard him breathing rapidly now. "The perpetrator was caught...we have him in custody right now."  
  
"I want to see this bastard." The phone went silent.   
  
Noin knew that Zechs would be there in a matter of minutes. The interrogation would be long, especially with Zechs. To help pass the time, she decided to notify the other Gundam pilots. Luckily, they all had returned from their respective colonies just a few weeks ago from their own Preventer missions.  
  
She decided to dial up Quatre's number, hoping that he would respond quickly. The phone rang for only a brief moment, "Hi Quatre."  
  
A sleepy voice answered on the other end, "Noin? Is something wrong?"  
  
"I'm afraid I have some bad news to tell you...Relena and Heero has been injured during this early morning."  
  
"Will they be alright?"  
  
"I'm not so sure about Relena's condition nor Heero's. Could you please contact the others for me? They took them to Neumann General Hospital. Zechs just walked in."  
  
"Will do."   
  
"Thank you."  
  
He heard the normal emptiness of the phone tone on the other end. With that, he hung the phone up and sat on the edge of his bed, his eyes filled with confusion of who would harm his closest friends. The news was still fresh to him and with Relena and Heero in the hospital, the shock was just going through his mind right now. He had heard of Relena's other incident, and was relieved when Heero was there. With two of his friends in the hospital, he felt he was at the crossroads between helplessness and despair. He then immersed himself in the task of giving out the news to the remainder of his friends. He figured that Wufei would hear the news from Sally since he knows that Wufei usually works in just another two hours. He called up Duo first. He noticed that he was as cheerful as ever, but once he dropped the news that cheerfulness turned to an eerie silence on the other end. As for Trowa, the dead silence was noticeable again. In the end, Quatre didn't want to be the bearer of bad news. He hung up his phone and looked out on the cold quiet morning. He had asked for the other two to come over his mansion, just in case any more news came from Noin or from the headquarters.  
  
Within a half an hour, the threesome waited in Quatre's living room for any important phone calls. The severity of the problem was shown on all of their faces, as they sat on a large couch. Quatre decided to put his hands to some use to help ease the tension away, "Would anyone like a cup of tea or coffee? I can go make some."  
  
"Coffee would be great," replied Duo, who got up from his seat and headed straight towards a window, looking at the dusted landscape. He whispered to himself, "Hang in there, you two."

* * *

"Where is he?"  
  
"He's being heavily guarded in our cells." Noin escorted her fiancé to the inner core of the Preventer headquarters. In order to get there, they had to bypass numerous security guards and through a vault like door, where Noin had to slide her identification card through a card scanner, along with a retinal scan. And once the light on the scanner showed green, the two were cleared for entry.  
  
"Lady Une started the interrogation process. We've learned that his name is Travis Donal and that he was ordered to carry out this mission of his."  
  
Zechs's mood was starting to change, as he was getting more enraged as every second that went by Relena could be closer to death.   
  
"Here we are." Noin showed Zechs the cell and noticed that the door was securely sealed with a keypad. "You can go in now."   
  
Before he stepped in, he heard Lady Une's voice from inside, "Who hired you for this mission?" Her voice was loud and unwavering.  
  
"Noin, could I have your gun?"  
  
"You're not going to shoot our suspect?" She cautiously took the slim black object from her coat pocket and handed it to him. "Or... I will have to charge you with aggravated assault on a suspect."  
  
"I'm just going to rattle things up with him." With that, he entered the room. He noticed that Lady Une had a surprised look on her face as the former "Wind" stood before her.  
  
"I'll just get out of your way right now. He won't talk."  
  
"Understood."  
  
Lady Une and Noin stood on the outside of the cell. "Why does he have a gun in the cell?"  
  
"He said he needed it."  
  
Back inside the cell, Zechs walked around Travis, who was now handcuffed to the metal table. "I hear that you're not talking to us right now."  
  
Travis didn't even respond to him and looked off towards a corner of the cell.  
  
"Do you know what happens if she dies right now?" He pulled out the small metal object and before Travis knew what had occurred, a small bullet whizzed passed his head.  
  
The two women heard the gunfire and immediately went in. "What the hell do you think you're trying to do, Zechs?"   
  
"Noin, just stay out of this...it's between him and me." He prepared for another shot. "This time I won't miss."   
  
Travis noticed that the gun was pointed directly at his chest.  
  
"You better talk...three...two...o"  
  
"All right...all right...get this man out of my cell right now. I'll talk."  
  
Lady Une then ushered Zechs out and took the gun away from him. "Thank you."  
  
"You're welcome." A small smile of victory was on his face.  
  
Lady Une then returned with the gun in hand, "You better talk, or I'll shoot." She held the trigger in her hand, while Noin looked on.  
  
Travis started to weaken in his defenses, "I was hired by someone only a couple of months ago. I think it was by the name of General Norfolk."  
  
With that, the two Preventers immediately left the cell and secured the lock on it. Zechs awaited an answer from the two. Lady Une spoke, "We have a name...General Norfolk."  
  
"Intriguing indeed. At least, that's a start." He became slightly hesitant once he heard that name, but brushed the foreshadowing feeling from his mind. "I'm heading over to the hospital now. I'll let everyone know about the further updates in both of their conditions."   
  
"Be careful, Zechs."  
  
"I will." In seconds, he was out of sight and through the winding corridors of the base.   
  
"I'm going to do a background check on this General Norfolk and see what other files we have on him."  
  
"All right, I'll manage the media, since they're bound to hear about the news."  
  
The two women were heading out of the secured inner core of the headquarters when Sally and Wufei just walked in.   
  
"Wufei and I just heard the news about the night's incident. Are there any updates?"  
  
"We have the prime suspect locked up in C-56. So far, we know his name and that he is working for a General Norfolk." Lady Une looked restless as she continued to walk down the long corridor. "Wufei, I want you to stand by near that area just in case anything happens. As for the rest of us, we'll be in the main consult room."   
  
He obeyed and walked off. He traversed the same pathway that Noin and Zechs had walked through earlier. In reality, he wanted to track down the persons responsible for nearly killing his friends. He wasn't really close to Relena, but all in all, he noticed that she had helped to get the people through during the Mariemeia incident. As for Heero, he was glad that he had helped him finally realize what he was truly fighting for. He couldn't just let someone take the two away from him. He walked over to sector C and guarded the area closely.

* * *

Zechs arrived at the hospital in secrecy, hoping not to attract the media that would soon be hearing the news. He entered through the back doors and pretended to know what he was doing. He carefully bypassed all the nurses and doctors that ran about the emergency room, and even the security guards that were posted about. "So much for security around here." He pressed further until he came across the front desk.   
  
"May I be any of assistance?"  
  
"I'm looking for Relena Peacecraft."  
  
"Sorry sir, I can't disclose any information unless you're the immediate family."  
  
"I'm her brother."  
  
The nurse behind the desk immediately apologized, "Sorry about that, I nearly didn't recognize you. They took her up to the OR. She's been in there for an hour."  
  
"What about a Heero Yuy?"  
  
"Let me see here..." She keyed in a couple of buttons and looked on the white screen in front of her, "He's still in the ER I guess his wounds weren't that serious, but they found him passed out in front of the trauma room, where your sister was. He should be in exam room #5. If you make a left down this hallway, the room will be four doors down and it'll be on your right. The layout in this ER can be very tricky."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
"My pleasure. I'll try to hold back the press if they find out."  
  
Zechs nodded at the nurse. He followed her directions and before long, he stood outside exam room #5. He didn't know what to expect. He slowly turned the brass knob and inside, he saw Heero sitting straight up with his right shoulder wrapped in gauze. A slight hint of blood was seeping through. He was dismantling the IV that a med student had placed in an hour before, the student just wanted to make sure that he wouldn't faint from the lack of fluids in his body. "Where do you think you're going?"  
  
"I'm getting out of here."  
  
"You can't in your condition."  
  
"I need to know if Relena will be alright."  
  
"Heero, she's in the OR right now. She's been in there for an hour." He walked closer to Heero and helped him get off the bed. "I know we haven't been on the friendliest of terms, but... thank you for trying to save her."  
  
He nodded at his response and found his shirt lying underneath his bed. He quickly got dressed and headed for the doors when an old nurse came in.  
  
"Young man, you get back there. You're in no condition of walking right now. You've lost a great deal of blood. I don't know how you got the IV out, but you need to get back in bed right now."  
  
"Sorry, but I have to see a friend, who needs me right now." He brushed passed the nurse.  
  
Zechs then followed him out the door, "He's a stubborn patient. I'll make sure that he doesn't pass out."  
  
"Fine with me." The nurse left after him and resumed her duties by taking care her other patients that needed her.  
  
The two then took an elevator to the fifth floor, where the OR was located in. When it finally stopped, they immediately set out on foot to see where the information services desk was located. They followed the black signs that hung above their heads, either making left or right turns. Eventually, they found the area, where Zechs had to go through the same routine of telling them that he was her brother. He was glad that his disguise was working to some degree.   
  
The nurse with rimless glasses responded, "She's still in there. They haven't sent out any reports. I'll let the doctor know that you'll be in the waiting room."  
  
Heero and Zechs then walked over to the waiting room. It was small, yet it looked newly renovated with blue wallpaper hanging on the walls and that the gray couches were still firm. The two sat across from each other at a corner.  
  
Zechs decided to start a conversation, "We interrogated the suspect...his name is Travis Donal, and he was hired by a General Norfolk. Ring any bells?"  
  
"No." He sat with his arms crossed against his chest. He didn't care if his wound would tear open again. He just wanted Relena to be safe.  
  
Right then, a doctor in blue scrubs with shoulder length auburn hair emerged from the glass doors. "Mr. Peacecraft?"  
  
"Yes." Zechs looked in front of him.  
  
"I'm Maggie Stenson, I was operating on Relena for the two hours."  
  
"Is she out of the OR?"  
  
"I have some bad news to tell you."  
  
Heero's face showed despair in his eyes. He said to himself in his mind, "What could have gone wrong?" He had failed his mission.

* * *

"I can't just sit here," Duo suddenly got up from his seat that he went back to just ten minutes ago. He paced around the room and began to fidget with his hands. "Aren't we going to do something?"   
  
"We just have to wait, Duo. We can't just rush in." Trowa continued to look out the window from his seat.  
  
"He's right, Duo." He was hoping to break down the tension in the room. "I think that fresh pot of coffee is ready." When he was just about to get up from his seat, the phone rang. The ringing silenced all of them in the living room, as if it had cast a spell of immobility on them.  
  
Their blood just drained from their faces as the phone continued to ring.  
  
"Is anyone going to answer that?" Duo immediately ran over to the phone. His hand shook as it was over the phone. He held the receiver to his ear. "Hello." His voice was calm.  
  
"Hi Duo..."  
  
TBC  
  
So how was that? Will Relena survive or will there be complications? Will Zechs unravel the mystery behind General Norfolk or will it be too late? Thank you for reading chapter six and please review. I would love to read any of your comments and thank you again. I would like to give a personal thanks to Silentheaven, Rayo, and Sylsch. Thanks for your reviews. Stay tune for chapter seven!!!


	7. Puzzle Pieces

"Reminiscing"  
  
Chapter 7: Puzzle Pieces  
  
Hi everyone!! Sorry about the long delay, but thank you for your patience and the long wait is now over!! Also, thanks for all of your previous reviews from last time (Solar Flare, Duck3, HeeroYuy195, and Silentheaven.) I greatly appreciate them. Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or any of its characters.

* * *

Ten minutes before the call...  
  
"Calling Dr. Stenson, you're needed in the ICU immediately. Code blue." The message echoed throughout the entire hospital.  
  
A nurse donning a ponytail and a flower printed scrubs passed the waiting room, where Zechs and Heero were anxiously waiting for any news. Both men looked up from their seats and peered into the glass windows. The hallway was filled with a frenzy of nurses and attendants running about. The two then left the area and followed the nurse that had just passed them only a minute ago. When they arrived near the entrance of Relena's room, the two saw a group of nurses running in and out.  
  
"What's happening to her?" Zechs's eyes widened with disbelief. The sounds of alarms were being emitted out of various monitors that showed a faltering heartbeat and blood pressure. Somewhere down the hall, a female voice called out, "Where is she?" Another person responded, "She's in room three." In seconds, a nurse ran passed the two with a blood bag in her hands and entered into Relena's room. The nurse quickly replaced the empty o negative blood bad with the new bag in her hands. It dawned on the two of them that Relena was bleeding out.  
  
"We need a crash cart here." An order was given and out came another nurse, who scurried into the hallway and rolled the cart that carried the portable device. She wheeled the cart into the room and started to prepare the machine.

* * *

Meanwhile, somewhere in the cafeteria, a pager rang off amongst the crowd. The announcement was inaudible due to renovations outside the cafeteria. Dr. Stenson was just finishing a cup of strawberry yogurt. She whipped out the small black electronic device and with alarm in her eyes; she quickly darted out of the crowded room. She ran to the closet staircase and ran up three flights of stairs, before arriving on the ICU floor.  
  
As she was going to Relena's room, she saw an attendant ushering the two men back to the confines of the waiting room. She gave them a small nod with an expression that she'll do her best to save Relena's life. With that, the two left with sounds of the crash cart charging behind their backs with Dr. Stenson arriving not a moment too soon. Just fifteen minutes before, Relena was out of surgery and they were told that she was moved to the ICU for observations. Dr. Stenson had briefed them that there was some damage to Relena's abdomen and that complications could arise any time after her surgery. And now, one of those complications had occurred.  
  
Back in Relena's room, Dr. Stenson finally removed the electronic paddles from Relena's body. "What are her vitals?"  
  
The nurse wearing the flower printed scrubs looked over at the monitors, "BP is going up and the heartbeat looks good. The new blood line worked."  
  
Dr. Stenson then looked at the bandages and noticed that were beginning to soak through. "These bandages need to be changed. If they get soaked again, then we might have a problem again with internal bleeding. I want someone to record her stats every hour. I don't want to take any chances right now."  
  
"Yes, doctor," replied the same nurse.  
  
With that, everyone cleared out of the room and resumed back to their normal duties. Dr. Stenson was the last one to leave and she then walked to the waiting room, where she saw Zechs and Heero sitting in opposite corners of the room. She came in with her hair tied back, "She's stable now...she just gave us a scare...her blood pressure dropped due to some blood loss, but a new blood line was placed in. The next twenty-four hours will be critical and I suggest that the two of you should get some sleep. I'm sure that Relena will make it through all of this."  
  
"Thank you," replied the two of them.  
  
Heero then got up from his seat and headed out of the room.  
  
"Where are you going?"  
  
"I'm going to make a call to the others." He then entered the hallway and found the nearest pay phone was situated near a couple of vending machines. He slipped in the coins and dialed the appropriate number, assuming that everyone would be situated in one certain house. The phone rang. He then noticed a familiar cheery voice on the other end, "Hi Duo...it's me."  
  
"Well, what happened? What's the update?"  
  
"Relena is out of surgery, but suffered a complication."  
  
"Is she...?"  
  
Before Duo could finish his sentence, Heero cut him off, "She's stable now...they're worried that she might have some internal bleeding or some other complication. The next twenty-four hours will be critical. She'll be in the ICU." He heard a sigh of relief escaping from Duo.  
  
"That was a close call...alright then, just let us know any further updates on her condition. And Heero, get some sleep, you did everything you could for her."  
  
"Not enough." Within a second, he closed the connection, while Duo was still on. He then placed the phone back on its respective stand and he also noticed two pairs of eyes were gazing at him.  
  
"She's in the ICU now. Heero is still with her. I'm going back to headquarters, I can't just sit around here and do nothing."  
  
"Same here," echoed in Trowa, who was now standing with his arms crossed on his chest. "There's nothing much we can do here."  
  
"We might as well go now." Quatre was already by the front door with keys in his hands.  
  
"What about the coffee?"  
  
"Never mind about the coffee now, Duo, we'll just get the coffee at headquarters. All right, let's go now."  
  
In a matter of minutes, the three were driving in the pre-dawn hours of the winter morning. The headlights in front of Quatre stared blankly at the barren road with a couple of snowflakes interrupting the beam of light. His other two passengers remained silent throughout the twenty-minute ride. He focused in front of him and felt a chilling foreboding feeling run up his spine. He had a premonition that trouble was not too far behind them. He looked at the rearview mirror and saw Duo slumped in his seat with his mouth slightly jarred open. He smiled to himself and continued to drive up a familiar road.

* * *

Zechs continued to wait in the waiting room, but he wondered where Heero had run off to now. He figured that he had snuck into Relena's room, without the nurses' permission. With that, he peered out the waiting room and noticed that a familiar face was in there. The site of Heero in Relena's room didn't alarm him that much. He felt safer that there was someone to protect Relena. As for himself, he noticed a couple of security guards were placed strategically on the floor and that three Preventers were situated by the waiting room.  
  
Right then and there, he decided to fall asleep for a while, in hopes of making up for the hours he had lost in the late night/early morning. Within minutes, his body was paralyzed with sleep. The events of Relena's and Heero's surprised attacker played in his mind and then there was the name of General Norfolk surfacing in his subconscious thoughts. As he drifted further into this sleep, an image of a cargo ship appeared before his memory. He was in the cockpit of a mobile suit, but he couldn't tell which one, the control panel was somewhat blurred, and he had the saber beam on full power. A woman on the vid link appeared before him, her blue eyes pleading to him that her ship was just filled with food and medical supplies.  
  
"You can't do this," she cried out to him. He then cut the communication line off leaving her with his name. In less than ten minutes, it would be all over. He pursued the renegade ship knowing where it would go and end up, a rogue station outside the boundaries of L1. But, he knew that station had its own objectives in the war. He then flew out of range of the slowly disintegrating ship and decided to greet it head on within its flight path. Within a minute, the ship was in his sight and he flew to it. His saber beam tore in the titanium alloy and behind him, a brilliant flash of orange and yellow light emitted from the ship. He flew off into space and looked for more possible targets.  
  
He was suddenly awakened from a jolt. He didn't know why he had a sudden reaction, but the memory of the explosion in space lingered in his mind. He decided to walk it off and he paced back and forth through the white tiled floor of the ICU wing. He passed by Relena's room twice and noting the same scene over...no improvement. At that time he noted that someone else wasn't in there anymore. "I wonder where he could have run off to now."

* * *

"Heero, what are you doing here?" Duo looked up from his stack of files he was skimming over to see if there were any possible leads. On the other side of his desk, two empty cups of coffee were still visible.  
  
"Nothing." The same monotone voice was present.  
  
"Didn't I tell you to get some sleep? You look like crap." He noticed the bloodstained shirt that he was still wearing.  
  
"Duo..." a sign of agitation was becoming apparent. "Where are the others?"  
  
"Trowa went to Sector C, where our prisoner is being held and that's where Wufei is too. As for everyone else, they're either managing the media or searching through the files like me." He then went directly back into his stash of papers.  
  
"Where's Quatre?" He saw Duo lift his index finger and pointed in the direction of Lady Une's office, without looking up from his stack of papers. "Hn." Before Duo could ask any questions, Heero left and was out of his sight. He then heard Duo shouting from his office, "You're welcome too."  
  
After winding down another hallway, he saw the familiar oak door. He heard a muffled conversation or rather an argument that was being fired from both sides.  
  
He recognized Quatre's voice, "There's going to be some trouble. We need to have more Preventers on call now."  
  
"That's out of the question. I'm already short staffed here and there's too much activity going on within certain cells in space and on Earth." Lady Une fired back at him.  
  
With no formalities, he quickly entered the room, while Quatre and Lady Une were still arguing. The two looked at him and wondered what he was doing here and not at the hospital.  
  
Once inside the office, he wasted no time in getting his sources, "I need to see the information that was collected so far."  
  
Lady Une shook off her surprised look and quickly produced the file that he asked for. "You should get some sleep, Heero."  
  
"I'm fine." He flipped through the interview and forms that have been already filed. His eyes were furiously scanning across the endless lines of black print. He was hoping to find any possible background information on the name that Zechs had left him. He already knew about Donal's connection to Norfolk. He thought to himself, "Please let there be something here."  
  
Quatre then spoke up, "How's Relena doing?"  
  
Without looking up from the file, "There's no sign of improvement."  
  
"Is Zechs still there?" Lady Une looked questioningly at Heero.  
  
"Yes, but there are three Preventers posted near him." He continued to scan through the papers, but there was nothing out of the ordinary that would track to the mysterious General Norfolk. "Quatre, I want you to do a present search through all of Zechs's possible connections with the current government and colonies."  
  
"All right Heero, but the search might turn out nothing."  
  
"There could be something. I'm going to take this file and do some researching of my own."  
  
"Be my guest, Heero. Mr. Donal won't crack. Zechs already tried it his own way, but it only gave us a small window of information." Lady Une sat back at her seat. She looked at her stash of files that were lying in the plastic tray. "I need to get back to work now and I should say the same for you, Quatre. But Heero, you should get some rest." She looked towards Heero and saw the sight of a negative response. She then looked towards Quatre's way, "And Quatre, I believe that the issue is closed now. There's adequate security within the hospital and I can't thin out the Preventers any further. There's too much at stake already."  
  
"I'm just giving you a fair warning."  
  
"All right then, fair enough. Now get back to work."  
  
With that order, the two left her office and headed back to where Duo was still searching through his paper stash on Travis's background and his possible connections to past organizations like OZ and the White Fang.  
  
"This guy is clean as a whistle. The only dirt that I can pick up is that he was part of Mariemeia's army before he surrendered peacefully to authorities. Other than that, I can't find anything else."  
  
"I might as well start the search on Zechs's current connections to the colonies and the Earth." The blonde haired man went over to his desk and started a massive archive search on his computer. Within minutes, the search came up nothing except past files on Zechs as a Gundam pilot. "I have nothing here. You would think with his past, there would be some enemies popping here and there."  
  
Heero then went over to his own desk, which was hardly ever in use. He opened his laptop up and went directly to the Preventers' database on past histories and typed in the name of Norfolk in the main popup window for the database. Within ten minutes, a list of seventy-five documents popped up. "Hn." He carefully scrutinized each one and then eliminated the documents that were too old. With that, fifty documents remained, but a particular space report caught his eye. He clicked on it and a picture of twenty-member crew popped up at the top of the article, but two of the faces were highlighted. "Unknown Mobile Suit Strikes Down Station's Cargo Ship."  
  
He then read further into the article, "An unidentified mobile suit attacked a cargo ship that was heading to a space station outside the boundaries of L1. Two crewmembers Casey Barret and Alexis Townsley both perished in the attack. (See photo above)." He then skimmed the rest of the article until another name appeared, "Lieutenant Lucas Norfolk comments, "It's the most horrific accident that I've ever seen before. Two of my comrades died in that attack...they were just bringing food and medical supplies to the station."  
  
Heero looked questioningly at that name and made a mental note about it. He then scrolled down and saw another vague photo. He could barely make it out, but he knew it was a mobile suit that he had seen before. He took another double take on it and it dawned on him. It was the Tallgeese.  
  
"I've found something. You all might want to come over and see this for yourself." He called out to Duo and Quatre.  
  
"Looks like you might have found the needle in the haystack after all," replied the braided pilot, who looked more alert than before.  
  
"This is just only the beginning." Heero continued to look at his laptop screen. He slowly saw the pieces of the puzzle coming together, but how would they all fit together was another obstacle.  
  
TBC  
  
Stay tune for chapter eight!!! Thank you for reading chapter seven, I hoped you enjoyed it. Any thoughts or comments? Well, take care everyone and happy holidays!!!


	8. Reasons

"Reminiscing"  
  
Chapter 8: Reasons  
  
Hi everyone...as promised here's chapter 8!!! Disclaimers: I don't own Gundam Wing or any of its characters.

* * *

Flashback - Somewhere in space  
  
"Target locked on." A hand hovered over a glass-covered button. "On my mark, three...two...." Zechs peered ahead of him, eyeing a small cargo ship. For weeks, he had spied on the ship, noting it's origin of departure and it's destination.  
  
"Alexis, we have a rogue mobile suit targeting us at ten o'clock." An officer peered up from his screen.  
  
"What...doesn't that pilot know we just have supplies for the colonies!! Get me a secured communications line. Pronto!"  
  
The officer quickly punched in codes and within in minutes, a line was connected to the unknown pilot.  
  
"What the hell do you think you're doing...targeting this spacecraft? My ship just has supplies for the colonies." A woman with blue eyes and light brown shoulder length hair appeared on the screen.  
  
"Is that so?" He looked questioningly at her. "You've been flying to a space station that is in reaches of L1."  
  
"Look mister...my job is to drop off these supplies that I have here on my ship. I have some vital medical supplies here." The woman was getting more agitated than ever.   
  
"Are you sure about that?" He looked coldly into the vid link. "You're space station has ties with earth."  
  
"Who are you?"   
  
"Zechs Marquise." Right then, the transmission was cut off.  
  
She had a perplexed look on her face and wondered why a mobile suit would go after them. For all she knew, she was carrying supplies back to the station. She thought to herself, "I wonder if [He's] hiding something behind my back. Wait 'til I get back to the station, I'll show [him] a piece of my mind." A voice then brought her back to the immediate situation.  
  
"He's targeting us still...a missile is heading our way."   
  
"Evasive maneuvers now. Brace yourself, this is going to be a bumpy ride." She immediately took hold of the ship, trying to evade the heat-seeking missile. "Launch a counter missile now." She quickly moved the joystick to the left and the officer complied. In a minute, an explosion was seen in the rear right window of the ship. "That was too close."  
  
"Ma'am."  
  
"What now, Casey?"  
  
"He's still after us."  
  
"Just great, this is just not my day for flying. Casey, I want you to man the guns and shoot only when he's in range. I know about the ammunitions...we're running low on them." She looked at the fuel gauge, which didn't look too promising either. "We're also low on fuel...I don't know how long we can outlast him. We're still forty minutes away. All this maneuvering will empty the tanks even further."  
  
Casey immediately went to the rear of the ship and hopped into the targeting compartment. Within seconds, a green transparent screen was up and running, as he was trying to snag Zechs into his firing range. "Come on...damn you." He continued to mutter curses under his breath. "This pilot is way too fast." He then fired a shot in hopes of damaging the mobile suit, but his shot didn't even make a dent in its white metallic armor.  
  
"Come on, Casey, I'm counting on you...just give me at least fifteen minutes." She felt a jolt come from the left side of the ship; one of the engines finally gave away. "Damn him." She switched all of the power to the remaining two engines. She then called out to Casey, "How are we doing back there?"  
  
"We still have at least 20 shells left."  
  
"Okay, make them count." She continued to look ahead of her, and talked to herself to relief some of the anxiety she was feeling, "Of all ships, why this one. Come on baby, please make it." She then setup a communications link to the station, "We're under fire from an unknown mobile suit piloted by Zechs Marquise. We need assistance immediately. Please hurry." She noticed that the signal was fading fast, "We have low fuel and ammunitions, we only have 20 shells left...all of our missiles are gone."   
  
At the station, the central command heard of Alexis's plight, the commander immediately ordered units to the ship's last coordinates. He tried to send a signal to the ship in peril, but instead received static. He knew that an electromagnetic storm was interfering with communications as usual. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one of his officers leaving the bridge, "Lieutenant, where do you think you're going, you are to remain here on the bridge. That's an order."   
  
"I can't watch this. I need to help Alexis, she's in danger."   
  
"Lieutenant!!" The commander's voice trailed behind him.  
  
The lieutenant quickly went down to the hangar and hopped into a small rescue ship. "Hold on Lexi, I'm coming." He fired the engines and was on his way to the last coordinates.

* * *

"Casey brace yourself, he's fired another barrage of missiles again. I'm going through another set of evasive maneuvers."  
  
"Roger that."  
  
Her hands were starting to feel numb from the intensity of controlling the joystick. "Where is help when you need it," she gritted her teeth. "How much shells do we have left?"  
  
"Eight. I've been using them as counter attacks. This guy is way too fast for me. I've never seen this mobile suit anywhere until now. I don't know what it is."  
  
"Just hang in there."  
  
"I'll try, but there's no guarantees." He felt the ship veer off to a sharp left. "Damn it Lexi, what are you trying to do...kill us first," he shouted into his consult.  
  
"Sorry Case...just trying to make it back in one piece." She continued to pilot the spacecraft, but it was useless, the master alarm then went off. "Great, we just lost engine three. This is not too good now, I'm going to overheat the second engine." She tried to establish another connection to the station, but there was only static, she knew that an electromagnetic storm was forecasted for their flight. "There always seems to be great timing for everything."  
  
Casey continued to monitor the screen for sudden movements. He noticed that the other pilot hadn't fired a single shot within the past two minutes. "Something's not right here, Alexis."  
  
"Tell me about, it's way too quiet." She then felt a jolt coming from the rear. "Casey," she screamed out to him. She noticed that the rear of the ship was badly damaged through a vid cam that was installed outside onto the ship, but she couldn't tell if the side panel was blown out or not. Right then, the warning for an air leak went on.  
  
"Casey!"   
  
She put the ship on autopilot and quickly zipped up a space suit on. She quickly floated to the back to find Casey's body and noticed that the rear panel was barely intact. She turned on her flashlight and found him hovering over his seat. He was unconscious and she quickly brought him back to the main cabin and secured him in a seat. With that, she then sealed the rear compartment to shut off the air leak and resumed flying the ship. Before long, she noticed a trail of debris resonating behind the ship with parts of the panel floating about. "Phew, that was too close to comfort."  
  
She looked ahead of her and put the radars on full to find the renegade pilot. She saw the green line circle back and forth, not a blip was on it. "Where are you? I know you're out there somewhere." She cautiously guided her ship to its final destination and she felt the minutes that passed by were endless tortures to her psych and to her piloting skills.   
  
"Are we there yet?" Casey slowly stirred in his seat, rubbing his forehead that throbbed of a headache.  
  
"We still have a long way to go. He hasn't been seen yet...the radar didn't pick up anything."  
  
"Interesting." He tried to get out his seat, but found that Alexis had strapped him securely and that he couldn't undo the straps.   
  
"You shouldn't get up...it's for your own good."  
  
"You ruin everything, you know that." With a defeated tone in his voice, he succumbed to her wish.  
  
"Hah, just keep your eyes open and see if he pops up anywhere."  
  
"Whatever you say, boss."

* * *

The lieutenant continued to fly on the flight path that would lead him to the ship's last known coordinates. He couldn't help but ponder on the last time he talked to Alexis...it was just two days ago.   
  
"What the hell are you trying to pull here?" An angered Alexis entered his quarters. She threw a couple of letters that she had picked up from his mailbox that was outside his room. "The commander told me that I was pulled from the next flight. I know this had to be of your doing...it has your name written all over it."   
  
"I'm just worried that it could get a little tricky from here in..." He was about to say something else, but held back.  
  
"Are you insinuating that I'm not good enough for this station?" She looked at him with her angered blue eyes. She was determined to win this fight, whether he liked it or not. "Look...I've been flying for five years now and nothing has happened yet. I'm putting myself back onto that flight and you can't change my mind."   
  
"Alexis, hear me out!" He got up from his chair and went over to her. He held something in his hand, but didn't dare to reveal what it was. "Alexis, the war between the colonies and the earth is intensifying and I don't want you to be caught in the crossfire."  
  
"Is that all you have to say? It's a risk that I'm willing to take and you can't stop me." She headed out the automatic door and used her own voice recognition to freeze the system, since she already knew how to from previous arguments. She heard a sound behind her back...it was Norfolk stuck in between the automatic door and the left wall.   
  
"Come on, Lexi...unfreeze this door now." He reached out with his right arm and tried to pry himself out of the trap.   
  
"It serves you right for butting into my career of flying." She continued her way into the circular corridor and she called back to him, "I'll see you in two days. It'll be enough time for you to cool your hothead."   
  
"Damn that woman...I just hope she knows what she's getting into," he continued to struggle and then remembered earlier in the day about seeing a memo that was on the commander's desk. He quickly read it and imprinted the black lines of print into his memory...it was the list of medical supplies that Alexis would have to pick up in an undisclosed location. He read further into the memo, but saw a line stating that the supplies were actually explosives destined to quell the rebellions of certain colonies that were fighting against the earth.   
  
An alarm brought him out of his memory. He saw something ahead of him, but couldn't tell if it was her ship or not. He opened a direct link to the ship, "Lexi, I'm coming." He sent his signature signal to the ship, but all he received was an endless noise of static that emitted from his radio. He decided to bring the engines to maximum power and flew closer to the site.  
  
His flight to the area seemed forever, but then there was the unthinkable. He saw the "mobile suit" ahead of them holding a laser blade in his hands. He heard the signal to Lexi was becoming stronger and heard her voice, but the signal crackled for a few minutes.  
  
Meanwhile on Lexi's ship, the two saw what lay ahead of them and knew the situation was not in their favor. "Oh no," she whispered under her breath. She saw an incoming transmission and opened it.  
  
"Lexi, I'm coming, just hang in there."  
  
"Lucas, he's coming towards the ship." Right then, Zechs charged at the spacecraft and struck it at its side. "We've been hit. Oh no...I..."   
  
"Lexi!!!!" He cried in horror as he lost the line, but he couldn't do anything. He arrived just when the ship had exploded into a bright yellow explosion with a wave of white light emitted from the center. In the corner of his peripheral view, he saw the unknown mobile suit fly away in the distance. The site before him burned in his memory, creating a lasting impression. He returned to the station grief stricken for the lost of Alexis and for his friend that he knew from training. He vowed to himself that one day, he will make Zechs pay for all of this.   
  
End of flashback  
  
General Norfolk awoke from his nightmare. He had noticed that he had fallen asleep at his desk. A picture of a woman with blue eyes and light brown hair peered at him. Next to the photograph, a black box was situated on the desk. Inside of it, was a ring that he would never use in his lifetime. "I should have told her everything." He looked at the photograph once more and resumed writing on a pad of paper.   
  
"General Norfolk sir...Officer Jenkins reporting." A slight tap on his door was heard.  
  
"Come in Jenkins," he called from his desk. He watched the slender soldier walk quickly to his desk and saluted him. "At ease, Jenkins."  
  
"Yes sir. Our sources say that Relena Peacecraft is alive at Neumann General Hospital."  
  
"I see...he didn't complete his mission after all." He looked towards the photo of Alexis.  
  
"Travis Donal is still in Preventer custody. Should we send out one of our rogue agents that's already active in the field?"  
  
"You've read my mind...I'm off on my own little reconnaissance mission. Tell the others I won't be in for some time."  
  
"Understood." Jenkins gave him one more salute and left the office with his own orders.   
  
Norfolk turned on his television and saw a picture of Zechs on it, but he didn't pay attention to what the reporter was saying. A small wine glass was by his side still and he raised it to Zechs's picture on the screen. "There will be a time and place that we will eventually meet. Mark my words."  
  
He got up from his seat and went over to his closet. He pulled out his civilian clothes and disguised his true identity under a navy blue baseball cap. With everything set, he ventured out of the base and into the city.

TBC  
  
Well, how was that for chapter eight? Please review and thank you. 


	9. Checkmate

"Reminiscing"  
  
Chapter 9: Checkmate  
  
Hi everyone, thanks for waiting and to make up for the lost time, I decided to write eight pages. Hopefully you all won't be too disappointed with this chapter...enough rambling from me. Disclaimers: I don't own Gundam Wing or any of it characters.

* * *

"Where do you think you're off to now?" Duo looked up from the laptop, while Quatre continued to scroll down, gathering the pertinent information. "I'm going to give this file to Zechs." He took the print out of the space report with him and went over to his small closet space and pulled out a clean shirt. Before long, he was out of their sight.  
  
The two continued to peruse the article, not noticing that a woman with a Preventer uniform was walking down the hallway leading to sector C. She passed through the set of security systems with ease along with a food tray that she was carrying. "For security here, it's sure a piece of cake." She pitched a gel like paper from her hands after going through the fingerprint analysis scanner...earlier that day, she had placed it in her own hand as she shook hands with a Preventer posing as a news reporter. In addition to that, a mini camera was concealed within her eyeglasses and when she pretended to reposition her glasses on the tip of her nose, she took a retinal snapshot of the unsuspecting Preventer. She continued to walk through the corridor until she came upon the retinal scan. She readjusted her glasses and an image of the retina from the same Preventer was transferred over her right eye. "Here goes nothing." A flash of red scanned from the top to bottom of her eye and she saw the light at the entryway turn green.   
  
She continued to walk down the round circular corridor until she found Wufei and Trowa guarding a certain cell.  
  
The two noticed the new Preventer in their sights. "I'm here to give the prisoner his dinner." She lifted the plastic covering to reveal a small portion of meatloaf and a biscuit.  
  
Both of the men noticed that something wasn't adding up. "Where's your i.d., woman?" Wufei looked at her sternly with his black eyes.  
  
She looked displeased at the tone of his last statement, "Right here." She placed the tray on the table and whipped out her badge that verified her as a Preventer. At the same time, she stealthily released a small vile of transparent gas that quickly enveloped the small area.  
  
The air around them started to turn into an opaque color, "GET DOWN!" Trowa demanded, and the two dropped to the ground. The white misty smoke made it unbearable for them to see what was going on.   
  
The renegade spy quickly lifted up the tray to reveal another surprise underneath it... a small slim pistol and information pertaining to Travis's cell lock. She keyed in the codes and quickly went into the cell.  
  
"Mr. Donal, I presume."  
  
"Who are you?"  
  
"It's not important for me to introduce myself to you..."  
  
He stared at her questioningly, "What do you want from me now?"  
  
She removed her handy eyeglasses, "Oh nothing, I just came to finish this little mission." She held out her pistol and aimed it at his chest.   
  
His eyes flashed before him, "You're from that organization."  
  
"Precisely..." she locked him into her sight and was about to pull the metallic trigger, but she felt a pain coming from her lower back. She had enough time to pull the trigger, before falling face down to the ground.   
  
"You okay in here?" Wufei emerged from the door with his gun in his hand.  
  
Travis looked up from the sight before him, "Yeah...that was too close to comfort." He was shaking nervously just like the time when Zechs tried to shoot him in the cell. The bullet had grazed his upper right arm...a slow steady flow of red darkened his clothing.   
  
"They're trying to eliminate you now." Trowa emerged from the doorway after sending out the signal for a breach of security within the headquarters. "The others will be here shortly."  
  
"We need to get better security systems in here. Une won't like the report we're going to send her." Wufei took Travis out of his cell and escorted him back to the main offices, where he saw Quatre and Duo going through some paper work of their own. "Sit down right over here." He pointed to a small corner behind a desk, while he walked to his own and scribbled something on a piece of carbon-copy paper, which he then tossed into a tray on his desk.   
  
Before long, Sally appeared at the desk where Travis sat, quickly bandaging the wound. "He's all yours, Wufei. And don't be rough on him."  
  
He gave her a quick glance and started his final interrogation with Travis. "You better talk now or this so-called group of yours might hire another assassin to finish you."  
  
Travis didn't like the image that flashed in his mind about another possible threat to his life...he quickly made a small gulp..."Alright I'll talk." He began to fidget with his hands, which was something he had always done whenever he was feeling nervous. "I was hired a couple of months back by General Norfolk. My interview was held at some undisclosed location, but I don't remember where it was...it was a long time ago."  
  
"Think harder." Wufei pounded on the desk, hoping to give Travis's mind a jolt of inspiration of some sort, while Quatre reminded him to stay calm. "I'm getting tired of playing these games."  
  
"I know Wufei, but we can't rush into these matters..."  
  
Travis then interjected into their conversation, "Look, driving in the dark at midnight is not the best way for me to remember anything." He clenched his fists and flashes of his first encounter with General Norfolk and his assignment were beginning to surface.  
  
"Is there anything else you would like to add?" The Chinese man regained his composure and continued to look Travis directly in his eyes.  
  
"There's something else...the base was hidden in a dense forest and it was situated by an old turnpike. I remember seeing a fallen sign out there, but the place hasn't been kept up for a while."  
  
"I see." Wufei then went over to a computer and checked the local area of 100 mile radius to see if there were any abandon turnpikes and possible leads. The frustration was getting to him. He furiously scanned the records that came up.  
  
Noticing that Wufei was busying himself, while Duo was finishing his stack of papers, Quatre walked over to the prisoner, who was still handcuff at the empty desk. "You're still hiding something from us. Aren't you?" The blonde man looked at Travis questioningly.  
  
"You're not a mind reader." He turned the other direction, avoiding the Quatre's curious gaze.  
  
"Do you happen to know what this is?" He held out a small black cube that was opaque, but was light in weight. In the middle of it, there was a small projection bulb, less than a centimeter in length. The light blue bulb stood out from its opaque surroundings that showed an array of etched lines.   
  
Travis smirked at the blonde man. "Now where did you find that?"   
  
"At your apartment...buried under a stack of books."   
  
He then snatched the small object out of Quatre's hand. "Hmph...I thought I destroyed this." He played with the object in his hands, just like a Rubik's cube. In a matter of minutes, he unlocked its secret content. "I think this may be of some service to you now." He smiled coolly to the blonde man, as if mocking his intelligence.   
  
A holographic image popped up before the two of them. The image was static, but it was still visible enough to make out the faint lines. Everyone that was within the room, saw the faint apparition. They were amazed that a tiny cube that they had found contained useful information.   
  
Lady Une had just walked out of her office to see what the commotion was about. Minutes ago she had heard of the breach in security within Sector C and was not too thrilled about it. She had enough things on her mind. She turned around the corner and saw her officers standing in awe at the image before them. "I want everyone to get back to work now...we can't waste anymore time." Her voice shot through the crowd and all of a sudden, sounds of footsteps were heard. She continued to walk towards the image that was still being played in a particular corner. "What's the update?"  
  
Quatre looked up from the image, "It seems that our friend here...cracked the cube to give us this map of Norfolk's hideout. The only problem is that it's part of a map and Travis can't recall the exact location of where this base is. The only detail he gave us was that it was located in a dense forest by a turnpike."  
  
"Is anyone doing a GPS scan on this image right now?" She continued to look at the blue transparent image in front of her.  
  
"Wufei is." The blonde man looked over to where he was sitting.  
  
As if he was listening on their conversation, he called out to them, "The report is on my desk, if you were wondering." His black eyes continued to scan through the possible sites for a hidden base that matched Travis's map.  
  
Meanwhile back within Sector C, Trowa remained on alert in the cell area to see if there was anymore suspicious activity going on. "Something still doesn't feel right here." He eyed the feminine spy that was on the ground...she was still breathing. She rolled herself on her left side, moving her short black hair from her face.  
  
"You're damn right." She took a deep breath in, "At this moment, he's on his way. All the pieces to the final match are set. It's just a matter of time." She gave off a mocking laugh before passing out from her blood loss.   
  
It dawned on Trowa that the hospital was the next target. He quickly paged the others of the impending scenario.

* * *

Heero raced towards the elevators of the hospital and punched in the all too familiar floor number. In minutes, he emerged from the metal shaft and eyed the person he wanted to see. He found him sitting in the waiting room with circles under his eyes. "Here." He dropped the manila folder onto Milliardo's lap. The contents partially spilled out with the copy of the space report on top of the pile.   
  
The platinum blonde man looked over it and noticed a name stuck out...Norfolk. He then realized that this dream of being in a mobile suit was actually a memory from his past. It was him in the Tallgeese. "It starting to make sense now. But why go after Relena?"   
  
"The answer lies within Norfolk." He suddenly got up...his pager was beeping. He took out the small device and noticed it was from headquarters.   
  
The short message read, "Breach in security...hq ok...he cracked...be alert."   
  
"Looks like you might get your answer after all. Travis cracked." He returned to his seat and eyed his surroundings, while Milliardo went through the file himself.   
  
The clippings from the space report and other informational sheets collected on Norfolk were scattered around him. His memories of being Zechs Marquise were being jarred open again. He began to rethink twice about the position that his own sister nominated him for. He looked over his shoulder to the hallway and noticed that guards were still posted to entrance of Relena's room. A faint sigh escaped from him and he finally made up his mind about his current position. "I hope she doesn't hate me for doing this..." he resumed looking at the file before him.   
  
He closed his eyes for a minute, trying to catch a quick snooze for the hours of sleep he was deprived of. But in minutes, he was in deep sleep and sounds of a woman's shoes were coming towards the room. Noin peered into the quiet room from the glass doors and saw her husband slouched on one of its couches. She quietly tiptoed in and motioned towards Heero that he could leave. With that, she watched him exit the room and headed towards the direction of Relena's room...being alert as ever.  
  
"Hey there...stranger."  
  
"Noin...what are you doing here?" He looked up at her in shock.  
  
"The press is a frenzy out there and headquarters was swamped with them earlier today. I just came to see how she was doing."  
  
"She's still holding on."  
  
"She's strong, Zechs." She picked up one of the papers that was lying next to her. "I see that Heero has done his research..." Her eyes quickly scanned over the article about the space incident and when she came across the distorted picture, the realization dawned on her, "Why would Norfolk come after Relena? This doesn't make sense."   
  
"Nothing makes sense right now...my past has come to haunt me again. I should have just remained as a dead person." He became silent for a brief moment, looking past her and through the glass doors, "Once this incident is over, I'm handing the title back to Relena...she's the right person for this job...I should have never have accepted it in the first place."  
  
"No matter what your decision is...I'm still with you." She placed her right hand on his back, noticing the tension that he was still feeling. "For these couple of months, I think you've helped in more ways that you could possibly think right now...minus the current situation."  
  
Realizing the truth in her words to some degree, "I guess your right...she needed a break." He closed his blue eyes and slowly drifted into a deep sleep, while Noin caressed his forehead.

* * *

Outside on the city's streets, a taxicab had pulled along the curbside and a man with a navy blue baseball cap emerged. He paid the cab fare and walked about a block before arriving in front of the hospital's glass revolving doors. He saw various news crews camped out on the front lawn of the hospital and some of them hand their camera crews on call...waiting to pounce at a possible announcement of Relena's condition. He quickly walked passed the group and entered through the revolving doors. Inside the hospital, he saw more reporters trying to gather all the pertinent information on the former queen. With all the chaos, no one really noticed that a man was heading to the basement, where the hospital's main circuit breaker was. He had studied all of the building's blueprints on which floor was what and what it housed. He carefully walked passed security cameras that scanned the hallways from their ceiling positions. Before long, he turned around the corner...bypassing storage rooms, janitorial rooms, and even the hospital's morgue. But then, his eyes caught one room, "Jackpot." He quickly entered the last room to his left and saw the maze of generators lined up in a row. The machines were vibrating silently...if he dropped anything, someone standing in the hallway could hear him. He looked around the lighted room until he found his target. "In less than a minute, all hell breaks loose." He pulled out a small explosive from his pocket and placed it directly onto the circuit breaker. He quickly walked back to the front of the room and pulled out the detonator switch. "Let chaos reign."  
  
BOOM...  
  
Throughout the hospital, the lights flickered about and alarms went off practically in every room. Nurses on every floor went about, checking on patients and calming families down. Within the ICU, the same scene was repeated but with more urgency, the nurses ran frantically about checking on their most critical patients especially the ones on the respirators.  
  
"The backup generator should be kicking in soon, according to one of the maintenance personal," a female voice shouted over the chaos.  
  
The head nurse in charge ran out to the nurses' station, "I need every nurse on hand to start bagging the patients and if visitors are around, have one of the orderlies escort them back to the waiting room."  
  
With the orders given out, each nurse dashed to their respective wings of the ICU unit along with the air bags.   
  
"Excuse me sir, you need to leave now. The hospital has just lost power and you need to go back to the waiting room." A nurse ran over to Relena's side and noted her pulse and oxygen readings.  
  
"I'm not going anywhere." His monotone voice pierced against the alarms resonating from the monitors.   
  
"Well you must, sir." The nurse remained persistent in her orders, "We have everything under control and my orders are to have visitors sent back to the waiting room now."   
  
He pulled out his Preventer ID and showed it to the nurse. "I'm staying here...you do your job and I'll do mine."  
  
He watched the hallway for any sudden movements that were out of the ordinary, but he didn't see anything. Right then, the backup generators kicked into place, but the hallway lights were still out...leaving the dimly lighted emergency lights. The machines in every room switched over to their new electrical power...an eerie feeling swept over him.   
  
The nurse gathered her things, "And by the way, there's a flashlight over by the first aid kit that's by the window." She quickly left the room and resumed her other duties without looking back.   
  
Back in the waiting room, a small crowd gathered about around the glass windows...wondering if their loved ones were in jeopardy, but the head nurse reassured that everyone was safe. Zechs woke from his small slumber and noticed that Noin was standing by the window closet to Relena's room.  
  
"They just had a power failure..." She continued to stand on her guard, looking towards Relena's room." She noticed that Zechs's eyes were searching the crowd in the darken room, "He's still with her."  
  
A small sigh escaped from him. "I don't know how long I can take this madness."

* * *

Two hours had passed...the ICU floor started to become quiet, even though the lights were still out, but beams of light were emitted from temporary stationary flashlights. The monotony of the machines was evident, the slow rising of the respirator pumps and electrical bleeps that came from monitors...it could have given anyone the creeps.  
  
Heero looked about his surroundings noted anything out of the ordinary...still nothing. He began to wonder if Duo's message was just a false alarm and was meant to throw him off. For the past day, it was a roller coaster ride for him...trying to find leads and any other critical information. The sounds of the monitors in Relena's room brought him out of his analysis. The more he heard them...the feeling of sleep tried to overcome his body. He tried to fight the feeling, but with his wound still there and the lack of sleep, the feeling finally overcame him.  
  
Right then, a door leading towards the fire escape slowly opened. Eyes were searching about the dimly lighted hall until he found his target. He smirked to himself, "Ah...the pieces are finally into place...you took my queen...and I'll take your [former] queen." He slowly emerged and walked around the bend...preparing himself for his final move.  
  
TBC


	10. The Fallen

"Reminiscing"  
  
Chapter 10: The Fallen  
  
Hi everyone...I know it has been ages since I updated this story. Well, here's chapter 10 and thank you for the reviews from chapter 9. Disclaimers: I don't own Gundam Wing or any of its characters.

* * *

The faint glow from the monitor continued to scan through hundreds of possible locations that Travis's map showed. The GPS images were just blinking away within a second and reappearing with new locations at an alarming rate. "I thought this system was supposed to be quick." Wufei looked at the small clock at his desk...half an hour had passed since his initial run.   
  
"Easy there," chimed in Duo, who was still reading through his stack of papers that seemed to pile up from nowhere. "I don't think you want to pull out your katana right now and slice the computer into little metallic chunks."  
  
"Funny...haha...I forgot to laugh." He continued to stare at the screen. The images that whizzed by were just feeding his anger more. "I feel like I should be at the hospital now...I can't stand sitting in front of this monitor anymore." He began to tap steadily on his wooden desk...hoping to pass the time away. Right then, he heard something else coming from the other side of the room. "Would you stop humming!?! I can hear you from all the way over here, MAXWELL," he gritted his teeth.  
  
"All right, all right...I'll stop....I'm just trying to help pass the time." He looked back towards his pile of files.   
  
"Hello...don't you two forget that I'm still here," Travis tried to wave his arm that wasn't handcuff to the table. "You two seemed to agitate one another really easily."  
  
"How perceptive, Mr. Donal," a hint of sarcasm was in his voice. Wufei continued to look through the GPS images that blipped up on the screen. "You're sure that you can't remember anything else about the location of the base?"  
  
"It was dark that day and they had everything concealed from my view until I walked up to the front entrance of their base. I wish I could help out more, but this is all I have to offer along with that cube." He placed his head in his hands and looked down at the floor, wishing that he hadn't gotten involved in the first place.  
  
Right then, a small electronic alarm emitted from the computer and a message read, "Two matches found."  
  
"It looks like you found the pot of gold," the braided ex-Gundam pilot walked up to where Wufei sat, "but how come there are two of them?" He looked curiously at the images that the computer superimposed over the image provided by Travis.  
  
Wufei honed in on the two images and noticed something strange about one of them. The first image showed a dense forest area, while in the second image, it showed a higher resolution of the area and that some structure was there, but camouflaged. He checked the dates when the images were taken and by what satellite. "It's the same location all right, but the second image was just taken three weeks ago by one of our newer surveillance satellites designated as SLA #2."   
  
"Very interesting...looks like we need to upgrade our computers to rid the old GPS photos."  
  
"Well since you mentioned it, you can write the report to Une, while I'll inform the others right now on the location." He looked towards Duo and noticed that he was slightly displeased of his extra duty, "That's what you get for annoying me for the past thirty minutes."

* * *

Three cars filled with Preventers finally arrived to the scene, in which local police and law enforcers met them. Une immediately hopped out of the first car and ordered her Preventers to different locations surrounding the hospital beginning with the exits. "I want the first floor sealed immediately and have civilians leave at an alternate exit, but if you see any suspicious activity or Norfolk himself call for immediate backup. I want no chances to be taken at all." Her cell phone rang off, "What is it?"  
  
"I finally found the site, Duo and I are on our way now. We'll have Travis under protection here."  
  
"Roger that," she closed off the connection and handed out more commands to her officers. "Quatre...I want you to stay on the ground floor and do some crowd control in case anyone becomes unruly during the evacuation. Trowa...go to the ICU and assist Heero." With that, the two men nodded in response and headed off on their separate ways. As for herself, she decided to go into the building and do a floor search with the other officers that were trying to hunt down Norfolk.   
  
Meanwhile within the ICU, small sounds of footsteps were heard throughout the hallway, as the nurses made sure that all of their patients' monitors had switched over to the backup generator by now. So far everything went off without a hitch and all was quiet on the floor for now.  
  
Heero shifted within his seat, but within his mind, he was somewhere else. His surroundings were unfamiliar to him, but in front of him, he saw someone standing by a cherry blossom tree. The soft pink petals were dancing within the wind and encircled around him, as he kept walking towards the shadowed figure. Right then, a familiar voice called out to him, "Heero," a smile graced her face as if it was the first time seeing him again. "I can't believe you're here...it seems like it has been eternity for this to happen." A hint of sadness was in her voice, as a small tear streamed down her cheek. "But...are you really here?"  
  
"What are you talking about?" His monotone voice was beginning to break down, realizing that too much time had passed between the two of them. "I'm right here." He forced her to face him as his Prussian eyes stared directly into hers, and repeated his line again, "I'm right here...and I always will be."   
  
"Promise?" Her crystalline blue eyes searched for an answer from him.  
  
The question was simple, yet it sent an arrow through his heart and soul. He pulled her closer to him and took in her perfume of lilacs. The smell was intoxicating his senses and he kissed her on top of her forehead, brushing away a few strands of her honey blonde hair. He released her from his hold and noticed his hands were covered in her blood.   
  
She mumbled something towards him, "It looks like you finally accomplished your mission in killing me." She took a deep breath in, "I'm tired of waiting for an answer."  
  
He looked down to her and noticed that her eyes had become lifeless in an instant...the familiar blue hue looked more of an icy opaque tint. Right then, everything around him enveloped in a black cloud and he was brought out of his nightmare from a high-pitched alarm that was being emitted from the next room. He looked automatically towards the monitors in the room and noticed that they were normal still...no erratic pulse...she was stable. "It was only a dream."   
  
He got up from his seat and peeked out into the hallway, nothing out of the ordinary was there, but still the sense of uneasiness was settling into his conscience. He pulled out his gun from his back pocket and made sure that it was fully loaded. Before he sat down, something had caught his attention...the emergency exit at the end of the hallway had its door slightly jarred open for a brief second. He whispered to himself, "He's here." He quickly shut off the small flashlight and hid in the shadows of the room.   
  
Trowa emerged onto the fifth floor and analyzed the situation. He didn't see any civilians wandering about and that the nurses were stationed off towards the corner of the floor. He got the attention of one of the nurses and he quickly ran up to her. "I'm going to make a security sweep and I need all of the civilians to leave. I've secured the left exit by the back elevator, another Preventer will be there to guide the group down."  
  
"They're all in the waiting room right now," she looked cautiously about the dark surroundings.   
  
"Get them ready to leave." With that, he began his sweep of each room, bracing himself for any sudden movements.  
  
Heero heard something coming from the hallway, but he didn't dare reveal his hiding position. He drew his gun and had it pointed towards the doorway. His finger was ready to pull the trigger, "Hold it right there!" The darkness in the room didn't do any justice for the situation, as he walked up to the mystery assailant. Right then, his eyes saw a flash of green in the darkness. "Trowa?"   
  
"Heero?"   
  
"Let me guess...Une sent you up here." He withdrew his gun from his friend. "Norfolk is here somewhere on this floor."  
  
"I see. The others are doing their own sweeps on the lower floors along with an evacuation of the first floor. I've also ordered the evacuation of the waiting room for this floor."  
  
"I think Zechs and Noin are still there...they should be here shortly." Within less than two minutes, the couple appeared right at Trowa's side.  
  
"What's going on here?" Zechs was ready to find his foe in the dark hallways.  
  
Trowa filled them in on the situation, "There was an explosion in the basement and it took out one of the main generators. We all figure that Norfolk is here somewhere, since the hit man on Travis leaked out the hint."   
  
"Well, it looks like the final battle is going to take place here...whether we like it or not." Noin scanned the surrounding hallway, but didn't see anything. "We know that he's after Relena to get to you, Zechs."  
  
"He should just come to me directly instead of beating around the bushes...coward." He looked towards his sister, wishing that he hadn't accepted her offer to begin with. "He was just waiting for the perfect opportunity to spring his plan into action."  
  
Heero remained quiet throughout their conversation and contemplated on a plan that would snare Norfolk. "We all need to leave this room." All eyes in the room went towards his direction along with the "are you crazy" look. "We need to leave...Norfolk probably knows that someone is just waiting to catch him in the act."  
  
"There's some truth in that," responded Trowa, "we might as well leave now and hide in different locations that are closet to this room." Everyone else averted their gaze towards Zechs to see if he would give the final okay for their plan.  
  
"Are you up to it?" asked Noin.  
  
He didn't like the idea of using Relena as bait for their plan, but it was the only way now. "You better not kill her, Yuy." His blue eyes flashed in his direction, "Let's get this over with...I'll be near the waiting room, just to make him believe that I'm the only one left." They acknowledged his position, and afterwards, they decided to leave as a group, hoping that their plan would fool the general. With that, they headed down a flight of stairs and were met by Une herself.  
  
"What are you doing? You shouldn't leave Relena unattended right now."  
  
Noin jumped into the group's defense, "Zechs with her right now...well he's in the waiting room. We're trying to fool Norfolk into believing that we all left."  
  
"Well the exits to the ICU should still be covered...I want no chances to be taken here."  
  
"They will be," interjected Heero. "We need to disguise ourselves...otherwise Norfolk might do something drastic."  
  
"There's a nurses' station that I just passed. They might have extra smocks along with lab coats. Also, there was a janitor's closet located by the back entrance to this floor"  
  
"That'll do." Before anyone could stop him, he automatically entered through the doors and ran down the hallway to the nurses' station with a strange request that perplexed the nurses for a minute.   
  
"I can't give out the uniforms," the head nurse protested as much as she could.   
  
"There's no time for an explanation...right now the ICU is in danger and lives are at stake." He showed her his ID and with that he was given the clearance. He then signaled the others to come. In minutes, they were dressed in their uniforms along with their fake badges that acknowledged them as hospital employees.  
  
"All right, I want everyone to cover an exit of the ICU pronto." Une drew out the floor plan of the unit and directed each person to their respective locations, "Noin, cover the south exit closet to the waiting room...Trowa, I want you to cover the location that you secured for the waiting room occupants along with the back elevators...and Heero, I assume you have your own position to cover." She looked towards the Perfect Soldier and noticed a nod in response. "I'll cover the west exit."  
  
Before the group disbanded, a quartet of Preventers emerged onto the scene. "What is this...a masquerade party? How come I didn't get any invite?" Duo looked onto the group with a curious look, hoping that he could jump onto the bandwagon.  
  
"It looks like your invite got lost in the mail, Duo," Sally patted the back of his shoulders. She shifted the conversation to a more serious matter, "How can we help?"  
  
Une's eyes lighted up a little, "Well, there are three fire exits that need to be covered." She looked towards Duo, Quatre, and Wufei for that task to be covered. "Well what do you say?" The three of them agreed. "As for you, Sally, I need someone to cover the nurses' station just in case anything goes wrong."  
  
"Fine with me."   
  
"All right, let's head back to the ICU and remember...act casually...so we don't give Norfolk the upper hand here." She placed a surgical mask over her face before entering the door leading to the unit.

* * *

Back in the ICU, Norfolk still hid within the back room, hoping that someone of interest could be of use to him. He opened the door slowly and heard the group from Relena's room leave just minutes before. "Well...it looks like a game of cat and mouse now." He looked to see if anyone was closet to his room, so he could divert their attention his way. As if out of the blue, his wish was granted somehow and he decided to drop a small plastic bedpan onto the floor and he hid behind the door. A minute passed and a male orderly appeared to see what the commotion was. Before he knew it, he was knocked unconscious by Norfolk and was gagged in the corner of the room.   
  
Norfolk finished making the final adjustments to the maroon uniform, as he peeked out the window, "So it looks like the cavalry is all here." He noticed that there was a large amount of civilians on the city street and he figured that the Preventers were already onto him. "I better make this quick." He took out a small vial of a clear liquid from his pocket along with a slim black box and placed them within his black waist bag. He exited the room and took one of the wheelchairs from the hallway. Along the way, he reached into his waist bag and activated the black box. A stream of pale gas emitted from the bag, as he placed a clear filter on his nose, protecting him from the gas's effects.   
  
He continued to push the empty wheelchair through the north end of the hallway, where he bumped into a cart of cleaning supplies, "Watch where you're going, mister!" He was curious as to why a janitor would be mopping the floor at a time like this, but he had more other important issues to attend to.  
  
"I'm sorry...I'm just doing my job," he mumbled the barely inaudible sentence. "The floor is slippery." He continued to mop the floor, but a queasy feeling overwhelmed his senses. He tried to focus in front of him, "He's heading your way, Heero. He's wearing a disguise now...a maroon colored uniform."   
  
"Acknowledged, I see him now." He pretended to stack a cabinet full of medical supplies, as Norfolk passed him. He watched him closely and before he knew it, he saw him park the wheelchair two rooms from Relena's. "I'm moving into position." On the other end, he heard a fall, "Trowa?" The connection was silent. Right then, he kicked his senses into high gear and saw a stream of a faint gray gas being released from Norfolk's bag. He immediately held his breath in and walked away from the surrounding area, hoping to evade the sleep- inducing vapor. By then, he already knew that the others wouldn't respond to his back up calls. "Damn him." As a last ditch effort, he emerged from his hiding place and ran to Relena's room, hoping that he wasn't too late.  
  
"Hold it right there!" He pointed his gun towards his target. "Put the syringe down." He took one step forward, but the room around him started to spin.   
  
"It looks like the gas is finally taking its toll on you."   
  
"I wouldn't count on that." He fired a shot towards the window and in seconds, a fresh breeze ran through the room. "You're slowly breaking down Zechs with your games here." He paused slightly and saw Norfolk shift in his stance, "This is to avenge for Alexis's death isn't it?"  
  
"How did you find out?" a shocked look was seen on his face.   
  
"Through reports and just a matter of connecting the dots." By then, he moved even closer to Norfolk, but continued to speak in his monotone voice, "In one of the blurred photos, it showed the Tallgeese. The only person that could have piloted that mobile suit was Zechs Marquise."   
  
With the statement from Heero, Norfolk exploded, "He took her AWAY from me! He had no right to destroy her cargo ship along with Casey." To bring his plan into full circle, he held the syringe right at the base of Relena's IV and was about to press the plunger downward when he felt Heero push him away from his intended target.   
  
"You're not harming her anymore." He tried to subdue Norfolk without using his gun because he was afraid that one of the bullets might hit Relena or other patients in nearby rooms. The two continued to wrestle on the ground and at one point, a tray had fallen and it scattered small surgical knives. He grabbed one of them and stabbed him in the upper right shoulder. The middle-aged man stumbled backward, as Heero got up from the floor and examined Relena's vitals...they were still normal...he had succeeded in protecting her. But at that moment, he felt a prick in his left arm and noticed it was the syringe that Norfolk had in his hands just moments before.   
  
"This is for interfering with my plans." He watched the Preventer fall to the ground and left him there to die. Before he left, he had picked up Heero's gun from the floor. "Fools...you all finally fell into my own trap...with all of your resources focusing on Relena...you all forgot to protect the Vice Foreign Minister himself." An evil laugh escaped from his lips and before long, his footsteps echoed down in the hallway.  
  
Heero felt the elusive toxin coursing through his veins, he quickly ripped part of his uniform and wrapped the fabric tightly around his left arm. He felt his strength slowly draining away from his body and with one last-ditch effort, he pushed himself from the ground and staggered off into the hallway to find his target. In the dimly lighted hallway, he saw a shadow outside the doorway leading inward towards the waiting room, "Norfolk..." He quickened his pace and in seconds, he was there waiting for the right time to strike...sweat drops began to trickle down his brow, as his heartbeat became irregular.   
  
"And now, I can finally avenge for Lexi's death." He pulled out the black metallic object from his pocket and pulled the trigger back.  
  
"Guess again."   
  
"How did you..." before Norfolk could finish his sentence, Heero pulled out his second gun from his back pocket and with no reservations... he fired at his target with his left arm wavering slightly. "That was for Relena." Everything around him began to swirl and he fell to the floor, dropping the gun to his right-hand side.   
  
As for Norfolk, he lay stunned on the ground without any eye movement. He just lay there...staring at the blank ceiling.

* * *

TBC


	11. Crimson Closures

"Reminiscing"  
  
Chapter 11: Crimson Closures  
  
I'm back...sorry for the lag in the updates, I know it can be a major turn off for a story, but I didn't want to rush this chapter out too soon. I had a hard time with writer's block for this chapter, and after reading the original chapters, I didn't want to make the same mistakes from my first run with this story, but it looks like I did it again at some parts. If you see any problems, let me know...I would truly appreciate it. Hopefully, I got a right combination here...though I could probably work on the battle/fight scenes more...not a violent person as you can see...I only go crazy on sugar and chocolates. ;) Anyhow, standard disclaimers apply here: I don't own Gundam Wing or any of its characters.   
  
Tsuumi Tataku: Thanks for your review. =) It could be that Norfolk's death scene was rushed, but I didn't want to linger around too long...hehe. In my original version, he was caught by the Preventer and turned his own group in, which seems too OOC for a general. Well, thanks again for reading!

* * *

Relena awoke to an early morning light filtering through the bedroom's window. Through her closed eyelids, she didn't want to get up, "Not another day," she whispered under her breath and hid beneath the white sheets. "No more meetings please...I can't take another day of debates." She felt someone searching through the sheets and a cold draft came up from her back.   
  
"Time to wake up, Mommy," a small child with matted brown hair tugged at her honey blonde hair.   
  
The word, "Mommy" was a wakeup call in itself. She muttered to the child, "Where's daddy?" with sleep still in her voice and tucked back under the covers.  
  
"At his laptop. He said to wake you up." He resumed his search of finding his mother and found her once more.   
  
"I see." She turned around to face her child, "Just let me sleep for one more minute, okay? Mommy is very tired and if daddy comes..."  
  
"What if "daddy" comes?" A voice trailed from the doorframe.   
  
"Daddy!" The boy squealed in delight. His small pattering footsteps could be heard echoing in the large bedroom before his father caught him in his arms. "Go eat your breakfast before it gets cold." The boy obeyed and ran off down the stairs. He turned to his wife, "Aren't you going to get up yet?"  
  
"I don't feel like it. I just want to sleep again." She smiled at him, "It feels so nice to sleep in late."  
  
He walked over to her side and climbed onto the bed himself. He stared intently into her blue eyes, capturing her essence.   
  
"You've changed so much in just the past two years, you know that." She fingered one of his brown bangs that hung near his face.   
  
"Hn." He continued to look down on her face, "And so have you."   
  
"But, without your help and the others...none of this would have been possible from the start. I thought I nearly lost you a couple of times back with Libra and the Mariemaia incident..."   
  
He silenced her with a kiss, "I'm right here."   
  
She looked into his Prussian eyes still savoring his warm kiss.   
  
"It's time for you to get up now...you don't want the others to be waiting because of your tardiness."   
  
The sounds of panicky alarms brought her out from her deep slumber. She looked around her room and felt a faint breeze blowing her way. Her head throbbed of pain, "Heero?" Outside in the hallways, the lights were out except for the emergency ones. She thought to herself, "Where is everyone?" She laid in her bed for the next couple of minutes and got her bearings straight, "That was only a dream, yet it felt so real." She noticed that her arms were still hooked to monitors of all sorts along with an IV bag.   
  
The moment she placed her feet on the cold tiles, she felt the shards of glass barely piercing her soles. She shifted her feet to accommodate her weight and began to walk...holding onto the IV stand, as its wheels squeaked. Everything in the ward was out of place and she continued on, hoping to see someone that she could get help from. She passed by the nurses' station and there was someone, it was Sally; asleep at a desk with her arms sprawled out. "Sally, wake up."   
  
"Huh," the woman looked wearily in front of her and rubbed her head. "Relena! You should lie back down. You're in no condition of walking on your own."  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"Never mind about that now...I need to find the others." She grabbed her radio and started to signal everyone else. The sounds of her voice echoed in various parts of the floor. Her attention was then directed to the former queen, "Norfolk came by here hours ago. There was a huge stakeout for him and we all thought he was coming after you. It turned out he was after Zechs all this time...something that happened in space two years back. I don't know what happened next...it looks like he got away." She tried radioing the others again...still no reply. "You stay right here, while I'll check on the patients and that's a doctor's order."  
  
The young girl looked to see her turn around the corner, where the most critical of patients were stationed. Knowing that it was a cue for her to move, she quickly walked out of the area and down the hallway again. She continued down for a while, but before long she felt light headed and she grabbed onto a nearby railing. Her surroundings spun around, and she took a deep breath in, hoping her dizzy spell would go away. "Pull yourself together." She urged herself to walk a few more steps before she came upon a dimly lighted hallway. She focused in on room ahead of her and saw an arm sticking out from the doorframe. Her heart thumped with each passing minute as her fears were starting to take hold. "Please no."  
  
She checked on the arm and noticed it was cold. She sidestepped the arm without looking at the person's face and when she entered into the room, the first thing she saw was the blood on the floor and followed its path to a person lying against the wall. "Heero," she ran over to his side and noticed he was barely breathing. She tapped his face lightly in hopes of waking him, "Please wake up...it's me, Relena." Realized that her tapping was useless, she then slapped him instead, in hopes that it would jar him back to life. "Please don't die...I need you here with me." Her tears stung her face, "Please..." she clung to him in, "We still have our lives to live." She placed more pressure on his wound, ignoring her own pain coming from the IV, "Sally," she screamed, "I need your help!"  
  
Her cry echoed throughout the floor and Sally came running in with a bag of medical supplies and noticed that Heero was severely bleeding from his chest. "Calm down, Relena...I'll do my best."   
  
Zechs and Noin both awoke to the sounds in the room. The two were shocked to see Relena awake themselves and finding the mess that she was surrounded in. "You all right, Relena?"  
  
"I'm fine Zechs." She steadied herself with the IV stand. "Heero saved us all, didn't he?"  
  
"Indeed." He looked to where Sally was trying to revive the young soldier and noticed that Norfolk was there too. "It's all over now," he motioned her to sit down on a couch nearby.   
  
The lights finally flickered on and painted the scene with more horrifying details. The walls were lined with bullet holes from Norfolk's gun, and to where Heero laid, the blood had splattered on the white walls. His skin looked pale and his breathing was irregular. Relena sat there horrified that it had to end like this...she focused everything out and had her sight on Heero. She heard orders coming from Sally for a crash cart, "That's not good," she thought again to herself. "This can't be happening...no it just can't be. This is all a dream...no it's more of a nightmare." The sounds of the electrical charges sent a tingle down her spine and right then, she felt someone escorting her out of the room.   
  
"Come on Relena, we shouldn't be here," Noin tried coaxing her to move.  
  
"I want to stay...I want to stay until the end. Don't deny me of that right!" She trembled violently.   
  
"He'll make it, but you need your strength as well."  
  
"I don't care," she pushed the woman aside and remained still. She heard Sally's orders to stay clear of the body and watched her place the metal paddles onto Heero's chest. The jolt sent his body upward off the floor...the monitor didn't even register a signal. "Fight Heero, you have too!"   
  
Zechs walked up to her side, "You need to leave now, Relena. Come on."  
  
"I said no."   
  
"You leave me no choice then," he plunged a needle into her IV bag. The clear liquid could already be seen mixing with the saline. "I'm sorry, but I have to."  
  
She started to feel lightheaded again and the color in her eyes drained, "If he dies...I'll never f-or-give you." She then collapsed into his arms.   
  
"I'm taking her to another room." Noin nodded in response. "If Heero's conditions changes, let me know," with that, he walked out of the room and looked for an empty room.  
  
Dr. Stenson appeared on the floor, "Mr. Peacecraft, I heard what happened. They finally gave me clearance to come back in." She noticed that Relena was in his arms, "Did she finally wake up?"  
  
"She just woke up about twenty minutes ago, but we had to give her a sedative because of her bodyguard was shot by Norfolk. Sally and some other nurses are working on him right now in the waiting room."   
  
Dr. Stenson acknowledged the info and directed the two of them to an empty room and hooked Relena back onto a monitor. "I don't know how she got away with those monitors, but I'll be back to check on her later."   
  
"Thanks."  
  
With that she ran out of the room and started to direct the new group of nurses to make sure that each patient was indeed safe. After that, she ran to the waiting room, where Sally still tried to revive Heero. "When was his last epp-?"   
  
She quickly interjected, "About fifteen minutes ago." Sally resumed her chest compressions on him, while another nursed pumped oxygen.   
  
Dr. Stenson then looked over to the other body that lay on the floor and grabbed a nearby sheet to cover him up. She went back to Heero's side and grabbed the defibulator from one of the nurse's hands. "Everyone stand clear...now charging." She placed the paddles on him and watched the electric current jolt his body again. The monitor for a brief moment carried a slight signal. "Come on Heero, come back to us." She ordered the nurse to increase the charge and with that, she told everyone to clear again. This time the monitor registered a stronger surgery. "All right everyone, let's get him to surgery."  
  
When the group was heading out the door, Une, Duo, Trowa, and Wufei just came around to see what the commotion was all about. They couldn't believe it that Heero was the one lying on the gurney. "Out of the way...move it," shouted Dr. Stenson.   
  
Duo tried talking to one of the nurses that worked on Heero, "Will he make it?"  
  
"I'm not too sure, we're heading to the OR now. I'm sure Dr. Stenson will brief you all later." The nurse then left his side and ran to catch up to the team, while Sally looked back towards Duo and gestured to him that she'll inform him of any change in Heero's condition.   
  
The braided pilot was then left in the hallway, while the others combed about the evidence and cleaning the room. Une crouched down to the covered body and noticed that a small wallet was on the floor. She picked it up with her gloved hands. She fingered through it and found a picture of a woman, "This is Norfolk's all right...here's a picture of Alexis...I'm assuming."   
  
"We definitely know that we have a true motive now," Trowa looked about the room and noticed the blood splatters. The effects of the sleeping gas still affected him slightly, "He sure went out of his way to cover his tracks with the sleep-inducing gas and all..."  
  
"It looks like he wasn't connected to any political or military groups. The last active cell was from Mariemeia, but that was neutralized," replied Wufei.  
  
"We still shouldn't take any chances..." Trowa took the wallet from Une and examined it for any more clues to the true nature of Norfolk's group.   
  
Quatre then entered the room, trying to catch his breath after racing up the stairs, "I heard something about Heero over our radios downstairs."   
  
"He's been shot...they've just taken him to surgery," Duo walked back in after collecting his thoughts for a while.   
  
"Is Relena safe?" asked Quatre.  
  
"She's with Zechs right now in a private room. We had to sedate her, she wouldn't leave Heero's side." Noin looked down at the floor and wondered if it was the right decision in the first place.   
  
Trowa continued to fidget with one of Norfolk's ID cards and noticed whenever he flashed it in UV light, something like a hologram appeared under the picture. He went over to the window and held the card there for a while before an image of a phoenix appeared. "It looks like we finally have an answer to our mysterious group...a phoenix."  
  
Une took control of the group, "All right then, I want a full background and surveillance scan once we get back to HQ. I don't want anyone becoming rash and infiltrating the area and causing a bigger ruckus then intended. You got that everyone?" The group nodded in response. "I'm sure with their general dead, one of his officers might take control of the group and carry out his true plan...whatever it might be. Let's get a move on it."  
  
The group disbanded allowing other Preventers to take their places in the hospital...by mid-morning, everything was running back to normal, but the news reporters were still biting at every chance they could get with hospital staff of what truly happened in the pre-dawn hours of the standoff. Duo decided to linger around a little bit longer. He paced back and forth outside the surgical rooms, hoping that Sally would come out any minute. "Damn...it must be serious...otherwise they would have been out by now," he looked at his watch and sat in a small seat. He placed his hands on his head and closed his eyes.  
  
The sounds of one of the automatic doors opened and out came a different surgical team rushing their patient to the recovery room. He looked back down onto the linoleum tiles. Another ten minutes passed before the door swung open again, "What's taking them so long?"   
  
"Duo?" Sally emerged with a blood-stained blue smock.   
  
"Well?"  
  
"He gave us a scare, but he made it through."   
  
"Thanks," he released a sigh of relief.   
  
"No problem...well I better head back in to make sure the transfer has no glitches in it," she tapped his shoulder and left him once again.

* * *

Back at HQ, everyone focused in on their work, hoping to dig up anymore vital clues to Norfolk's group. "How are the reports coming along?" Une looked up from her stack, as Noin entered the room.  
  
"We're at max capacity...one of our satellites had picked up movement from the base about three weeks ago. Wufei is comparing the pictures now to make sure it's the right location. By the looks of it, they're moving gundamium alloy somewhere. It looks like they were going to start building new mobile suits, even though the gundams have been totally destroyed."  
  
"Has there been any activity at any sites marked for possible mobile suit development?"  
  
"Not yet."  
  
She looked out her window from her seat, "So Norfolk just wanted to cause another war with the Earth and the colonies...once he eliminated Zechs. We need to act now...sooner than I thought...if that alloy leaves earth and heads into space to their factory districts...Norfolk would have the last laugh at us." She pitched the files in front of her to the corner of the desk, "Who's covering Zechs right now?"   
  
"Wright is, but Duo is still at the hospital." Noin looked a little a worried, "Should I send in more officers then?"  
  
"No we don't want to draw more attention over there...the news have already leaked Norfolk's death out, but they're still sketchy about Zechs's location."  
  
"That's a good sign then."  
  
"Indeed," the commanding officer rose from her seat, "I want three new teams to be assembled now and have them ready to attack by nightfall."   
  
Noin obliged to her commander's request and headed to the main office, where everyone was still situated. "Listen up everybody," she yelled over the commotion of keyboard strikes and small chats, "Une wants us to form three teams now to infiltrate Norfolk's base. Whoever wants to come, meet me in the conference room for a debriefing."  
  
In no more than five minutes, a group of thirty assembled in the medium sized room with their gear in hand. A small presentation was given out...letting them familiarize themselves with the type of complex that they were up against with the majority of the info given personally by Travis. Their main objective was to locate the alloy and destroy it along with any mobile suit parts that were in development.   
  
Une gave the final order from their debriefing, "All right, everyone clear out and be careful. I don't want to lose anymore officers."  
  
Within forty minutes, the three teams arrived at the supposed back entrance to the base. Everyone had their night vision goggles on and radio signals were heard about on a low channel frequency. "Epsilon in place..." a low static was heard, "Sigma in place..." and "Omega in place."  
  
Une radioed behind a tree, "All right everyone on my mark...3-2-1." Right then, a barrage of yellow sparks was seen diverging from three different locations around the base. "Everyone be on the look out for snipers!" A bullet just grazed her own shoulder, "Where are you?" She duck behind another tree and waited to see a spark coming from one of the sniper's riffles. "Gotcha." She fired and in no time, she saw someone stumbling out from his hiding place.   
  
Trowa was the first one closet to the base and wrestled a couple of guards down only to render them unconscious. "I'm in," he radioed in, while green eyes flashed around, "they've just sounded the alarm." Being quick to his feet, he immediately took off his night vision goggles and ran to the nearest hallway. He was met with a barrage of bullets coming down a corner and he waited for them to come to him. He heard them reload their guns and quickly ran towards them, kicking the weapons out of their hands and punched them in the abdominal area.   
  
The intercom rang out, "Level 4 stations...Level 4 stations...perimeter has been breached."  
  
He then left the area where he was met with a gun towards his face, "Drop your weapon." The officer stood his ground and cocked his own gun. Trowa grimly tossed his gun on the ground.   
  
"You sure about that, solider?"  
  
"Don't mock me, Preventer."  
  
"I'm just giving you a fair warning that's all."  
  
Another voice chimed in, "I think you should drop your own weapon now." Quatre immediately rendered the soldier unconscious. "You should be more careful, Trowa."  
  
"Yeah...thanks." He picked up his gun. "Where are the others?"   
  
"All over the place...the radio signal here is so weak. I think we might be close."   
  
More soldiers were heard coming down the hallway, "Look...there they are!" A barrage of gunfire rang on the two men.  
  
"After you," responded Quatre.  
  
"My pleasure."  
  
Meanwhile, somewhere near the control room, "Get out of my way!" Wufei fired back with his own gunfire. "If I had Nataku this would be much easier," he gritted his teeth as more soldiers came out of nowhere. He finally broke through the glass door along with some other Preventers. "Sigma team move in." He signaled to the rest of the team members and before long, the control room was secured. He radioed the success back to Une, who was still outside finishing off a few conflicts here and there. "I'm moving out to Sector H, where Trowa and Quatre are at."  
  
"Roger that," replied Une.   
  
Wufei quickly ran over to the area, where Trowa's and Quatre's locaters were showing them to be at. "What's the update here?"  
  
"We found the alloy, but there's only one glitch." Trowa looked up towards the ceiling of the hangar.  
  
"Don't tell me...damn them! He pounded the walls with his fists. "They were diverting our attention all this time."  
  
Quatre radioed in Une to tell her that their mission had failed. "The alloy is being transported out...it's heading into space."  
  
"Acknowledged," right then, she heard the jet propulsion systems kick into action and the winds generated from the engines nearly knocked her off her stance. She quickly called back to HQ, "Noin I want you to launch into space with one of our modified planes. The target is a transport carrier...I'm about to send you the necessary info."  
  
"Roger that, I'm on my way right now." She was about to head toward the hanger herself when she was stopped by Duo. "What are you doing here? I'm about to head up into space. Get out of my way, Maxwell."  
  
"I'll go instead...they have some serious payback to do." He quickly suited himself up for the flight and in no time, he was already in the cockpit.   
  
"You don't even know what you're looking for," she called out to him.  
  
He signaled Une, "Send me the coordinates from the last location of the transport carrier."  
  
"Duo, I told Noin to go into space," a shocked voice came into the cockpit.  
  
"It doesn't matter...just send me the coordinates." He closed the com link off and in seconds, he punched the last known coordinates into the navigation system and with that, the booster engines went on. "The God of Death has returned!" He piloted the lightweight jet into the atmosphere and found the transport carrier heading in the moon's direction. "You can't escape from me," he was about to fire one missile when the master alarm went off. "You're starting to get on my nerves!" A light appeared from the side of his jet. "Damn you!" He used evasive maneuvers until the blitzkrieg of missiles died down for a brief moment and used the opportunity to his advantage. "This is for Heero!" The missile locked onto its target and in seconds, a small explosion appeared. He rested against the chair and opened his com link, "The carrier has been destroyed...I'm returning now."   
  
Back on the ground, the rest of the soldiers were dropping their weapons. Une wrapped her shoulder in some gauze from one of the medical teams that came on deck and assessed the area. "The operation was a success," she said to herself.   
  
"For now," replied Quatre, who was also accompanied by Trowa and Wufei.  
  
"I see you all made it out..." She placed her head down and felt relieved that her officers caught the incident in time before a new war started. "Time to head back now...we're going to be busy for a while." She looked over to the group of surrendered soldiers and saw the three of them nod in agreement.  
  
On the ride home, something didn't feel right at all especially to the former Gundam pilots and their commanding officer. Even though, the majority of them slept on the short ride, there was uneasiness that they couldn't drive off. The vans finally pulled into the back lot and when the vans ran over the speed bump that was placed, everyone awakened from their light sleep. Noin greeted the returning Preventers, but she held a deeper message for a certain group.  
  
"What's wrong, Noin?" a worried Quatre appeared from a van.  
  
"It's Heero," she tried to stop a tear falling from her eyes, "the hospital just called...he took a turn for the worse."  
  
TBC


	12. Shattered Dreams

* * *

"Reminiscing"  
  
Chapter 12: Shattered Dreams  
  
Disclaimers apply here: I don't own Gundam Wing or any of its characters.

* * *

Everyone quickly regrouped in the all too familiar setting that was still undergoing small renovations from yesterday's early morning's incident. To them, it felt like time slowed for this particular week...entrapping them for history that was trying to repeat itself once again. Sally emerged from the surgical ward, her eyes showing defeat, "He had a blood clot in his lungs...a pulmonary embolism."  
  
"You told me that everything was going to be all right," screamed out Duo.  
  
"I know...I know," she leaned against a wall, "Sometimes we can't guess what'll happen with patients. These complications just lurk up on us at any given time."  
  
"What's his prognosis then?" asked Une.  
  
"For now, it looks grim...he contracted an infection from his previous gunshot and now everything just keeps piling up. He's lost a large volume of blood and no matter how hard we try, the pressure isn't holding," she looked directly towards everyone, "I'm afraid he's not going to make it...I'm sorry."  
  
Wufei came over to her side and offered her Kleenex, "You did your best along with Stenson and her group."  
  
She took the kind gesture with gratitude, knowing that she wouldn't see his soft side for a while, "I'm sure Stenson might extend visiting hours for all of you...I can probably pull a few strings here and there." She quickly left the group, trying to drown out her failure by busying herself with the task at hand.  
  
Noin quickly left the group and found the room where Relena was now situated in., she found Zechs in a chair just beside the bed. "Hey there." She ran her hands down on his shoulders. A moan came from and she felt his muscles relax slightly. "She's still asleep?"  
  
"Yeah...I don't think it's the sedative now, but more of fatigue from exerting herself to walk."  
  
"I'm afraid I have some bad news on Heero's condition...there was a blood clot in his lungs. Sally isn't too sure if he'll live."  
  
"I see," a nervous sigh escaped from his lips. "I'm now more worried about her," he looked towards his sleeping sister. If Heero died tonight and if she hadn't said her goodbyes to him, he wouldn't hear the end of it coming from her. Their whole relationship might just dissolve in one night and with the brunt of his news coming so close, the entire relations between the earth and the colonies could be jeopardized once again. "I'm in deep, Lu."  
  
"I know you'll figure this out somehow," she bit on her lower lip and looked to her soon to be sister-in-law, "It looks like she might wake up now." She urged Zechs from his seat and she quietly left the room, allowing the brother and sister some time alone. Outside in the hallway, she could see the group in the distance and made eye contact with Quatre. She saw the look he still conveyed.

* * *

Duo paced back and forth around a small reflection pool. The sun's rays pierced the surface and reflected off the liquid, striking him at his retinas. "This isn't fair!!!" He screamed as loud as he could, he didn't care if anyone heeded him or not, "The war is over now...it's not fair to take him away like this!" He threw a rock into the pool and the ripples radiated from the corner, distorting his own image and the view of the blue sky. He fell to his knees, "All this work, wasted for a personal vendetta..."  
  
He took a few more minutes to himself and collected his thoughts. He knew his sulking wouldn't erase anything that happened in the past few days. He took a deep breath in and returned back...the sounds of the busy hallways kept his mind off the death situation, but the smells made him nauseous.  
  
"You all right, Maxwell?" Trowa looked up from his magazine.  
  
"I'm fine. Where are the others?"  
  
"Around." His green eyes focused back onto an article. "Do you want to talk about something? You don't seem like yourself lately."  
  
"I'm fine, Trowa...I just want everything to end...on a good note."  
  
"We all want that," he got up from his seat and headed for the door, "I'll leave you two alone. Do you need anything?"  
  
"I'm good...thanks." He shifted uncomfortably in his seat.  
  
"I'll be back later...Quatre might drop in again..."  
  
"All right," he heard the door close quietly. "Well it's me and you, buddy." He began to fidget with his hands, he hated hospitals most of all, even the room felt cold and out of touch...the steady bleeps on the monitors sent his hairs rising. Memories of his childhood came flooding in and with it, images of his first true friend, Solo. But, there was one bitter image he couldn't erase from his memory...Solo dying in his arms after his failed attempt to find the vaccine to the virus that plagued the colony. "I can't lose another friend," he whispered to himself, hoping that Heero would hear it, "You hear me! Don't say goodbye yet."  
  
Back in Relena's room, she finally awakened in the mid-afternoon. "Where's Heero?" Her blue eyes flashed with fear, hoping that her nightmare of him dying wasn't true.  
  
Zechs couldn't deter from the question, "He's in recovery now, but..."  
  
"But what?"  
  
"It doesn't look good, Relena, he might not make it through the night. I'm sorry, but there's nothing anyone can do." He sat down in defeat. "And there's something else I need to tell you...whether you like it or not." He cleared his throat, "I'm handing the position back to you...you're far more better in diplomacy than I ever will be."  
  
"I don't want it," she seethed, clutching the sheet that lay on her.  
  
"The papers have been turned in and it's official. Lu and I are returning back to Mars, before the transition has been made."  
  
Her voice pitched, "You're running away, Zechs!"  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" He stared directly into her blue eyes that reflected his own. "I've shed too much blood in my past and let it stay there. I don't want anymore harm come down on our family line. I should have listened to my gut feeling about taking your position in the first place."  
  
The monitors showed a slight increase in blood pressure and heart rate, she decided to put things into perspective and slowly came to an agreement, but still she loathed the position that now beckoned for her return. "The war isn't really over yet...it's still waging inside politics. What [they] fought back then was to secure peace for all of us...the rhythm is still lulling everyone back in." Zechs remained quiet, bracing himself to take another round of her verbal assaults that could come anytime. "I want to see him and don't you dare stop me this time."  
  
"I'll let you this time," he pulled a wheelchair up to her left side. "Easy now, you don't want to tear your bandages open." He wheeled her to the recovery ward and found everyone clustered in a smaller waiting room.  
  
"You're looking more stronger than ever," replied Quatre.  
  
"Thanks...it'll be awhile before I get back on both feet." She counted the pilots and noticed one was missing, "Where's Wufei?"  
  
"He's with Heero right now," chimed in Duo. "He kicked me outta of the room."  
  
"Really?" A shocked look came across her face.  
  
"It surprised me too and here I was expecting Quatre or Trowa to walk back into the room."  
  
"It looks like you have an audience outside right now, Heero. I better make this quick then." He stood up by the bed, "You have to fight this...you were a formidable opponent in the war and I don't want you getting an easy way out...you got that!" He scooted from his position and opened the door. All eyes focused on him for a little before he sent a cold gaze towards them.  
  
"I guess I'll take it from here," Relena looked about the medium sized room. Zechs helped her into the room and left there shortly. She looked out the door's window and saw everyone leaving their seats, giving her a moment of privacy. A knot began to form in her stomach and she didn't know where to begin, "Um...it looks like it's going to be another fine night here thanks to everyone's efforts." She looked upon his messy brown hair and wished that he would just open his Prussian eyes right about now. "We have to stop meeting like this...seriously...first it was me and now you." She wheeled up next to his bed and took his hand into hers, "I'm at a lost for words right now, but...thank you...for saving my life. You probably don't want to hear this, but I'm going to say it anyway...before I regained consciousness...I was dreaming about you and our future. Somehow we beat the odds and had our own little family...our son looked like you." A tear trickled down her eyes, "And somehow you managed to bring me back to life again in my dream. So please hang in there...I don't care if we're together or not, I just want you to live that's my only wish...no strings attached."  
  
She managed to wheel herself to the window and looked out to see a shooting star blaze across. A nurse came by and checked on Heero's vitals and increased the morphine dosage, "Um...miss...it's time for you to head back now."  
  
"Sorry, I must have lost track of time," she blushed in embarrassment. "Good night, Heero," and with that said, it was the last thing she'll ever say to him alive.

* * *

The next three days were somewhat a return to normalcy for the Preventers. After their major raid at Norfolk's base, the reporters finally got hold of the full story and aired the details now to the public. Relena flipped through the channels just trying to get away from it, but in the end, the majority of the stations covered the main event except for one that was leaking out another breaking event. The woman news anchor on the screen read the urgent news, "We have just confirmed that Vice Foreign Minister, Milliardo Peacecraft, and his fiancé, Lucrezia Noin, have both been killed in a fatal plane crash en route from a conference held at the ESUN. As you may well be aware of, former Vice Foreign Minister, Relena Peacecraft was attacked in her own home, but is now fully recovering. May our prayers be with her at this time. The ESUN will not disclose who will take the vacant position, but assures that preparations have already been made. And now, returning to the Norfolk Incident..."  
  
"So that's how he's going to be a ghost again." She closed the TV off and without a moment too soon, Zechs popped in hiding his true identity with a waist length grey coat and a hat that covered his face. "I just saw your vanishing act on the news."  
  
"Really?" He looked to see what kind of reaction came from her.  
  
"I still say that you're running away."  
  
"And I still say it's the best way for me to do this...end of story...period. Lu sends her love, but I better be going now." He fidgeted with something that he concealed under his coat, "Here, you might need this."  
  
She grabbed the portfolio from him and opened it, "It's phase two of the Terra Reforming Project..." she was left speechless.  
  
"Nothing is set in stone yet, but with a little work on it...the colonies will sure agree to the new installments for colony expansion."  
  
"Thank you, Zechs."  
  
"No problem, I better make my disappearing act soon, before the press notices something. I'll contact you."  
  
In no more than a minute, he was out of her sight, "Bye Zechs." She looked out into her room, which was now filled with at least ten different flower arrangements ranging from roses to irises. Even Mariemaia managed to drop by with her own unique bouquet of get-well balloons decorated with random smiley faces. She grinned to herself on the last time she had a balloon in her own hands, "So much for synthetic helium..." she thought to herself.  
  
Right then, a flurry of nurses ran to the end of the hallway. "Maggie he's crashing!" one of them shouted.  
  
"I'm on my way," she dropped her pile of charts down on a desk and ran by Relena's room, not knowing that her own patient was watching her.  
  
She managed to climb out of her own bed and walked with her IV stand to the commotion. Nurses had already shut the door behind them, but she stood there looking through a small glass pane. "Heero..." Her eyes became saturated with a salty liquid and she couldn't believe it...he was slipping away from her. Inside the room, she could tell Stenson was giving a fight in trying to save his life, but she looked over to the monitors...flat line. "Please no..." Her eyes darted back to Stenson and she could read her lips, "Time of death..." The words stung more than anything at the moment, she could already feel her chest tightening and reality crashing in.  
  
"Relena, you shouldn't be here," Stenson looked alarm that a nurse didn't catch her standing in front of the room.  
  
"I heard the monitors and I had to come," she sniffled.  
  
"I'm sorry," she patted the girl's shoulder. "It just took us by surprise...he was doing so well until today...he even had visitors...Lady Une."  
  
"I want to see him." She stared directly into the room and watched a nurse taking out the tubes along with the IV.  
  
"Just for a minute."  
  
"Thank you." The doctor helped her through the door and the nurses cleared away in an instant. She gingerly touched his hair and kissed him on top his forehead...it was still warm, "May you find peace now." Right then, a torrent of tears ran out and she felt a hand over her shoulder.  
  
"Come now, Relena."  
  
A voice she knew all too well, "Quatre," she sobbed on his shoulders.  
  
"Shhh now...you're going to get through this. I know you will." He continued to hold her in his arms, trying to comfort his friend. Unaware to them, a pair of brown eyes looked from the doorway and the person quickly rushed down to the basement unnoticed.  
  
The two left the room, while a pair of nurses awaited at the door to move Heero's body to the morgue. The transfer was quick, as the two wheeled the body to the basement using a back elevator away from any passing visitors' view. A female voice told them to leave the body in the middle of the autopsy room and with that room was quiet again. She quickly walked over to the body and injected a liquid into one of his veins. The body contorted for a minute, but it wasn't rigor mortis and right then, there was a gasp for air.  
  
"I see that you're alive now, Heero. You pulled some show back there." She adjusted her long brown hair.  
  
"Did the diversion work?" He looked around his surroundings.  
  
"It did...she thinks you're dead and the others aren't catching on yet." She looked into his eyes, "Are you sure about this?" an alarm went off in her mind.  
  
"I am...it's for the better."  
  
"All right then...but if you slip up somewhere, you'll have lots of explaining to do." She handed him some belongings and turned away. "I've programmed the security cameras ...that way you can make your escape and the funeral arrangements have already been ma-." Before long, she heard the back door tweak shut. "I just hope he knows what he's doing." She went back up to the main recovery ward and went to Relena's room to comfort her...though she felt guilt building up inside her with every passing minute of deceiving the new Vice Foreign Minister.

* * *

The winter day burned in her memory as each former pilot and her grabbed a handful of his ashes and released them into the chilly air. The service was short and yet no one wanted to be there, they all wanted their friend to be back. Tears stung her eyes again, but she didn't remove them, he had failed her in granting her one last wish...bitterness enveloped her heart. She tuned out the reverend and other voices as they eulogized the pilot of Wing Zero...her former bodyguard...her friend. But then, the tone changed towards a different couple and with that, another funeral service was combined. It was as if the fates combined the deaths so well in one single blow...only in truth, the three deaths were false.  
  
Hours passed with visitors coming to and fro from her house with their condolences about Zechs, Noin, and Heero. She knew two thirds of them to be false, while the other third was true to her. She just wanted the day to end and she felt like retreating to her room, where it all had began, but now, a freshly laid carpet along with new furniture decorated the room. No one would have guessed the main accident had occurred here. She went over to the window and looked out onto the frosted fields wondering where Heero would supposedly be. Her lips quivered, as her breath frosted the panes, "Why did you have to leave?" Unaware to her, a pair of Prussian eyes looked from a grove of trees and stood silent, just capturing the quiet evening. Five days from now, he knew that she would resume her title of Vice Foreign Minister once again along with administering phase two of her Terra Reforming Project.  
  
"I'm still here, Relena." He walked off onto the cold field and into the silent night, disappearing within the horizon that shifted every so often with the rush of the winds, erasing his newly made footprints.

* * *

Well it's finally finished...well maybe...I was thinking about a sequel...perhaps. Please review, I would greatly appreciate the feedback no matter how small it may seem...whether it might be constructive criticism or not. Thanks for sticking around and I hope I didn't let you all down with this story. Last but not least, I would like to say a big thank you to all of my reviewers, without you I don't know how I could have ever revamped my story in the first place. Thank you.


End file.
